Speeding driver who killed cyclist sentenced to four years in jail

"Metcalfe is now being punished for his actions."

Two years at His Majesty's pleasure in no way reflects the harm caused.

The Sentencing Council guides judges to ludicrous penalties for killing with a motor vehicle.

This must change as Assault with a deadly weapon, ABH, GBH, Manslaughter and Murder are not Traffic offences.

Starting with CPS who won't charge with the appropriate offences.

Also, 35 years old? Ok...

"He has driven tens of thousands of miles since this incident..."

That's disconcerting

"........he was “showing off” the car, which he had bought four weeks earlier to celebrate the birth of his daughter..."

I had to read that three times before I began to understand it.  Anyone who buys a fast powerful car isn't celebrating the birth of a child, they are indulging in their self interest, which he was still doing when he killed Mariusz.  So sad that a person has to die because some people are so utterly selfish and stupid.

"......and his car was also seized."

I wonder if he thinks celebrating his daughter's birth that way is worth it now.  Well done to the CPS for this prosecution and for seizing the car, but that raises the question as to why that isn't routine?  It would probably have some effect on the car-lovers if they knew their car would be sacrificed if they drove dangerously.

EDIT: just read the Hull DM article, and this leapt out at me:

"Aaron Metcalfe bought the car, which was his pride and joy......."  Not his daughter.

And ".....his speed at the time of the collision was 54 to 57mph."  Assuming that he braked, how fast was he going before?

"The cyclist had not looked over his shoulder before moving out."  If Metcalfe was going 60mph+ it is unlikely he would have been able to tell if the cyclist looked or not, so this is just the usual victim blaming.

"Metcalfe was a decent, hardworking man who ordinarily put other people first."  Well, pardon me, but that doesn't seem to fit with his behaviour.

""It's a relatively short distance that was travelled at that speed – 200 metres."  I don't know how many metres it takes to accelerate to that speed, but is seems unlikely that he was only travelling above the limit for a short distance.

"Had the victim looked and seen the car, the accident would not have happened."  This claim is unprovable and irrelevant.  The victim could have looked, but at the speed the car was doing, the driver would not have seen him do it.  The cyclist could have looked, assumed that the car was moving at the speed limit and he had plenty of time to cross.

This from the judge ""He crossed and it's clear that he didn't look."  The only evidence that the cyclist didn't look comes from the criminal driver who killed him, who has a rather large vested interest in blaming the victim.  For the judge to say this indicates clear bias.

And finally ""It was an isolated moment of madness."  Bolox it was.  I'd lay money that he'd been driving like a prat for four weeks, he just hadn't been caught.

This whole thing demonstrates yet again the depth of the obsession with cars in our society.  If Metcalfe ever gets his licence back it will be too soon.

Apologies for the length, but at least I edited out the swearing.

My deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Mariusz.

I am pleased the CPS declined the easy way out and the seizure of the vehicle is interesting, presumably he'd already had it repaired.

Another comically lenient sentence for someone doing something fantastically dangerous that results in at least 1 life gone and probably a dozen or so ruined. 2 years in prison though, I'm, sure that will make up for those kids not having a father or the mother not having a husband and being traumatised. I'm sure that will make up for his parents losing their child.

I mean, fucking hell. Whats even the point when the punishment for this is so pathetic. 2 years for a life.  

That Hull Live story is rather amazing. It opens with this: "A speeding driver in a newly bought high-performance BMW knocked over and killed a cyclist who suddenly rode out in front of him without looking."

It is known the cyclist did not look how? The cyclist is not alive to present his side of the story, and there is no mention of clear and concise CCTV footage that would show this.

And then farther down in the story there is: 

The cyclist "had been riding a bicycle on the pavement alongside Metcalfe, but he changed direction and rode across the road near a traffic island. He came into the path of the BMW....

"Had the victim looked and seen the car, the accident would not have happened."

The story is basically an exercise in victim blaming. The reporter who wrote it should be ashamed of himself.