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Jail for hit-and-run motorist who killed south London cyclist

Samer Neyeb evaded police for five months after killing Leon Richards in April 2014

A motorist killed a cyclist in a hit-and-run incident and evaded police for five months has been jailed for three years four months.

Samer Neyeb, aged 23, was the driver of a BMW involved in a collision on the evening of 4 April 2014 in which Leon Richards, 26, sustained fatal head injuries. He died in hospital the following dya.

The Metropolitan Police say Neyeb was eventually arrested five months after the incident and charged with causing death by careless driving.

Last month, he pleaded guilty to the offence at Croydon Crown Court, as well as three counts of perverting the course of justice, fraudulently obtaining insurance and failing to stop at the scene of an accident.

He returned to the same court yesterday where he was sentenced to three years and four months imprisonment and banned for driving for four years.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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20 comments

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Das | 9 years ago
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In England ANYONE can ask for a Sentence to be reviewed if they think it may be unduly lenient.
Its a max of 14 years for death by dangerous driving. Its a Level 3 offence(Failing to have proper regard to vulnerable road users) and also 3 other charges of perverting the course of justice, fraudulently obtaining insurance and failing to stop at the scene of an accident. As its a level 3 offence the starting point is only 3 years...........

Worth a read.

http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/s_to_u/sentencing_manual/death_by_dangerous_...

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boil-in-the-bag | 9 years ago
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About time we started doing the Theory Test on foot, Part 1 of the Driving Licence on a bicycle - and then make licences renewable, annually for the first couple of years to not less frequent than every 5 years when you've had one continuously for 10.

Some motorists seem to have no idea what it's like to use the road without a motor.

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zanf replied to boil-in-the-bag | 9 years ago
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boil-in-the-bag wrote:

About time we started doing the Theory Test on foot, Part 1 of the Driving Licence on a bicycle - and then make licences renewable, annually for the first couple of years to not less frequent than every 5 years when you've had one continuously for 10.

Some motorists seem to have no idea what it's like to use the road without a motor.

I've been saying for a while that the licensing needs to be updated so that it has to be renewed every few years with certification from eye examiners, and every 5 - 10 years with a re-test to show competence.

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Airzound | 9 years ago
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Exterminate, exterminate!

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Housecathst | 9 years ago
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Perhaps I have very low expectations, but I'm surprised the got a jail sentence.

Why he didn't take his chances with a jury of his driving peers. All he would have had to do is suggest that the sun might have been shining, and it might have got in his eye, a bit (the proverbial "get out of jail free card")

He'd have got his keys back and been sent on his marry way to do it again.

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Jahmoo | 9 years ago
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Sentence is a Joke!!!

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Bob's Bikes | 9 years ago
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 31

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benb | 9 years ago
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What on earth does someone have to do to get a life driving ban?

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the little onion replied to benb | 9 years ago
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benb wrote:

What on earth does someone have to do to get a life driving ban?

That sounds like a good idea for a road.cc article - find cases where people have been banned for life, and what they did to get there. This would identify the gap between the law as it exists in theory, and as it is applied in practice. I know someone who did a similar piece of research into what the threshold really is for a doctor/dentist/other medical practitioner to be "struck off" (i.e. banned from practising medicine) for life - very scary stuff. This was then used as a basis for a campaign to increase accountability for misconduct and gross negligence.

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Simmo72 | 9 years ago
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Legal System/Horses Arse......nope I can't tell the difference either.

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CumbrianDynamo | 9 years ago
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They'll also let him take the ban concurrently with his sentence, so if he serves the maximum (ha!) he will only be banned for a further 8 months on his release.

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STATO replied to CumbrianDynamo | 9 years ago
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timfearn wrote:

They'll also let him take the ban concurrently with his sentence, so if he serves the maximum (ha!) he will only be banned for a further 8 months on his release.

This hasnt been the case for years....

even the daily mail covered it!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1228881/Mother-wins-law-change-d...

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benb replied to STATO | 9 years ago
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STATO wrote:
timfearn wrote:

They'll also let him take the ban concurrently with his sentence, so if he serves the maximum (ha!) he will only be banned for a further 8 months on his release.

This hasnt been the case for years....

even the daily mail covered it!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1228881/Mother-wins-law-change-d...

Except the change in law was never enacted!
http://thecyclingsilk.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/when-is-law-not-law-when-no...

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FluffyKittenofT... replied to benb | 9 years ago
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benb wrote:
STATO wrote:
timfearn wrote:

They'll also let him take the ban concurrently with his sentence, so if he serves the maximum (ha!) he will only be banned for a further 8 months on his release.

This hasnt been the case for years....

even the daily mail covered it!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1228881/Mother-wins-law-change-d...

Except the change in law was never enacted!
http://thecyclingsilk.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/when-is-law-not-law-when-no...

Wow. This really needs to be more widely known. At the moment there seem to be two groups - those who don't know the law was ever changed, and those who "know" the law changed but don't know it didn't actually change!

So the situation is still as ridiculous as it always was? Has the Mail (or the rest of the press) reported that anywhere?

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atgni replied to FluffyKittenofTindalos | 9 years ago
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FluffyKittenofTindalos wrote:
benb wrote:
STATO wrote:
timfearn wrote:

They'll also let him take the ban concurrently with his sentence, so if he serves the maximum (ha!) he will only be banned for a further 8 months on his release.

This hasnt been the case for years....

even the daily mail covered it!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1228881/Mother-wins-law-change-d...

Except the change in law was never enacted!
http://thecyclingsilk.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/when-is-law-not-law-when-no...

Wow. This really needs to be more widely known. At the moment there seem to be two groups - those who don't know the law was ever changed, and those who "know" the law changed but don't know it didn't actually change!

So the situation is still as ridiculous as it always was? Has the Mail (or the rest of the press) reported that anywhere?

Good news  1
The law has now been brought into force (on the 13th April this year). I wrote to my MP and he's come back with the answer that it's now in force, so Driving bans are no longer concurrently served.
He says the commencement order can be found here - http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/819/contents/made

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benb replied to atgni | 9 years ago
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atgni wrote:

Good news  1
The law has now been brought into force (on the 13th April this year). I wrote to my MP and he's come back with the answer that it's now in force, so Driving bans are no longer concurrently served.
He says the commencement order can be found here - http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/819/contents/made

Great, thanks for updating this.

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Notsofast | 9 years ago
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Well he'll only do 22 months of that joke sentence...

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Jamminatrix | 9 years ago
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Three year, four month imprisonment with four year driver's license ban? So he's driving again within 8 monthsof being released from prison....

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portec replied to Jamminatrix | 9 years ago
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Jamminatrix wrote:

Three year, four month imprisonment with four year driver's license ban? So he's driving again within 8 months of being released from prison....

I'd be surprised if somebody like him would care whether he's banned from driving or not. He'll be driving from the day he's released.

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flathunt | 9 years ago
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Another joke sentence, why is no-one laughing?

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