Registered: Nov 2003
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/...ire/3472567.stm

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Driver jailed over child deaths

A mother who caused the deaths of her daughter and her friend in a car crash has been jailed for two years.
Heather Thompson, 41, was driving at up to 80mph as she took the two girls to a birthday party.

Abbey Thompson, who was celebrating her 12th birthday, was killed along with her friend Lauren Wheeler, also 12.

Thompson, from Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, told police the girls had laughed as she sped along the bumpy road.

A judge at Lincoln Crown Court heard Thompson had collected the two youngsters from drama lessons in Bracebridge, where she had told other parents she could travel the 15 miles to Woodhall Spa in only 15 or 20 minutes.

She was travelling through Martin Fen last June when several witnesses reported her overtaking a number of cars at high speeds along a bumpy section of the road.

'Reckless and stupid'

Gareth Wheetman, prosecuting, read a number of statements from drivers, who reported that she was going too fast.

Witness Nigel Bryant estimated the silver Rover 216 was being driven at speeds in excess of 80mph which was "reckless and stupid".

He watched as the car flew into the air and turned over and over before landing upside down in the ditch.

The defendant was found to be crawling out of the driver's window, hysterical and crying: "I just lost control, I just lost control."

The sad fact is that all too frequently I have to sentence drivers for causing death by dangerous driving

Judge Michael Heath
Mr Wheetman said the children were later found in a ditch and although people at the scene tried to resuscitate them, they both died.

A forensic examination of the scene of the accident found the probable speed of the vehicle at the time it went off the road was 72mph.

Thompson told police in interview how the girls were laughing because they had hit bumps in the road but when she suddenly lost control she heard Abbey cry: "Mummy please stop it."

Kaiser Nazir, defending Thompson, said: "Mrs Thompson has never attempted in any way to lessen her guilt for this incident."

Thompson was led away from the court shaking and weeping after being jailed on Monday.

'Human tragedy'

Outside court Lauren Wheeler's mother Debbie said: "Our lives, our futures have changed completely. If only she'd just done something different, and not driven so fast."

Judge Michael Heath, sentencing, said: "The sad fact is that all too frequently I have to sentence drivers for causing death by dangerous driving.

"Each case is a tragedy and every time I deal with such a case I hope that drivers in Lincolnshire will harken to the severe human tragedy that these cases bring and henceforth drive appropriately so that these cases are reduced."

Thompson, who pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death by dangerous driving, was sentenced to two years on each count to run concurrently.

Outside court, her solicitor, Ros Danson, said: "No order or sentence passed by the court could ever be greater than the sentence Heather has given herself."

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Registered: Aug 2001
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'The same offence'? Was the illegal immigrant not done for driving without license or insurance, and driving away from the scene of an accident? I don't think that he was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving as the kid pretty much jumped out in front of him; if my recollection is correct, it wasn't the same offence at all.

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Registered: Dec 2002
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Yes, British justice failed again, it sure did. Why was the sentence not at least 120 years - the probable combined future life-spans of the two children the reckless bitch murdered by her idiocy?

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Registered: Dec 2002
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Yes she should be done for at least 10 years in my opinion.

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Registered: Sep 2001
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quote:

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Originally posted by Cockney_Rebel

I think this is disgusting. Yet an illegal immigrant commits the same offence and is only handed an 8 month sentence. I think this women has suffered enough, yet the moronic judge ruins the womens life even more.

Cockney_Rebel - Extremely disgusted.

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Registered: Sep 2000
Location: Kansas City
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Ask the parent of the other kid whether the woman has "suffered enough".

You don't get absolution from reckless endangerment of children simply because you feel guilty afterwards.

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Registered: Jan 2002
Location: UK
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BY a;ll accounts the mother of the other kid echoed the Judges comment that the sentence the woman had given herself was great enough already but that some sort of custodial sentence was appropriate. I've not heard the other mother publicly stating the sentence was wrong either way.

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Registered: Jul 2000
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wemon shouldnt drive

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Registered: Nov 2003
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Sentencing her to a custodial sentence is a tad harsh. I think there is a lack of understanding on the judge's part and maybe he should have at least considered other means of punishing her. I think a suspended sentence and a probation order along with a lifetime ban from driving would have been more appropriate. I agree that she was reckless and stupid, yet at the same time this is a respectable mother that we are talking about, not a villain, but a mother, who has made an extreme error of judgment and has suffered greatly for it.

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Registered: Aug 2001
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Am I right that the guy that you were referring to, the illegal immigrant, was actually convicted of a different crime?

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Registered: Jan 2004
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It's like, jail is supposed to teach you a lesson. But I think the deaths of the 2 children did that.

All in all, 2 years ain't nothing to cry over. Good behavior- she'll get 14 months. Who knows, she might find God in jail or learn to not take life for granted.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Smug Git
Am I right that the guy that you were referring to, the illegal immigrant, was actually convicted of a different crime?

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Registered: Jul 2000
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quote:

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Originally posted by Cockney_Rebel
Come to think of it you might be right, as I saw the headline for the case in the tabloid but did not fully read it as I hate reading the 'Sun'. I overheard at work that the immigrant had been jailed for reckless driving, whether thats the case or not is something you can tell me or something I should go and look further into.

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Registered: Aug 2001
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/...ies/3461783.stm

That guy got 8 months for having no license or insurance, for failing to stop and for failing to report an accident; apparently, he wasn't held to be at fault for the accident itself, ie, for causing death by dangerous driving, etc. He then got another 16 months for having a false passport.

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Registered: Nov 2003
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Whats with the chav scum bullshit! You bastards are beginning to hurt my feelings! Just because I own a convertable escort and wear white socks with blackshoes, don't mean I'm a target. Fuck you, go and pick on Lee. If you don't stop the chavvie stuff I'm leaving. I MEAN IT.

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Registered: Feb 2004
Location: Texas
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i think the lady will suffer for the rest of her life knowing that she killed two innocent children by being ignorant and reckless. There is also the other parents to take into consideration. Would you be able to look your spouse in the eyes for the rest of your life if you killed your child? How does the other parent get justice? It isn't like she hit a deer or swerved to miss an accident. She purposely drove at high rates of speed down a road that became dangerous at that speed and killed two kids. My thoughts are that she didn't get enough years. But, that is just my opinion.

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Registered: Sep 2000
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quote:

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Originally posted by Cockney_Rebel
I agree that she was reckless and stupid, yet at the same time this is a respectable mother that we are talking about, not a villain, but a mother, who has made an extreme error of judgment and has suffered greatly for it.

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Registered: Feb 2004
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AMEN

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Registered: Aug 2001
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At 72 mph I guess that she was 12 miles per hour over the speed limit (20% over) so I don't guess that was why she got imprisoned, just for speed alone; she must presumably have been compounding that by picking a really shitty time to drive that fast (such as when the road is really bumpy).

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Registered: Aug 2001
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quote:

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Originally posted by Lee
...find God in jail...

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Registered: Nov 2003
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What I did not see is what type of road was she traveling on. Was it an 'A' road? was it a 'B' road? If it was a 'A' road then Smug is right, as on an 'A' road the speed limit is 60mph.

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