| Author |
Message |
Ben Greenway
Guest
| | Posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 - 11:33 am: |   |
ON 9 APRIL I was caught speeding. I was doing 51mph in a 35mph zone. I do not dispute this and accepted my punishment for breaking the law, which was a one-month driving ban and a £120 fine (I was in court on 26 May). However, there are a few issues I would like an answer to.
Firstly, the punishment for breaking the law should be the same for everyone, but it would seem that this is not the case.
In the case of Sophie Williams, which was in the Guernsey Press on 24 May, who was doing 42mph in a 25mph zone, she received only a fine. Why was this? Miss Williams was doing 17mph over the legal limit. I was doing 16mph over it and I was given a ban. It was my first ever offence, as it was for Miss Williams, so I do not understand how the court came to this decision.
I would also like to bring to your attention another case from the previous week, that of Spencer Smith (printed in the Guernsey Press on 21 May). Mr Smith was doing 50mph in a 35mph zone and as he had just started his own business as an electrician, the court imposed a 14-day ban instead of a month. Why is Mr Smith's job even taken into consideration? If you break the law, the punishment should be the same, regardless of any other factors and regardless of your employment status.
I am a mechanic so I require a driving licence for my job. My employer wrote a letter to the court to state this and it wasn't taken into any consideration at all. It would seem that the judicial system, especially cases for traffic offences, has no consistency whatsoever. How is it at all fair that one person can get such a lesser punishment for the same offence compared to someone else in very similar circumstances who gets a greater punishment?
How can we put our trust in the law and order system when it would seem that the court can let off whomsoever it chooses, for reasons known only to the court? I eagerly await a reply to the questions I have asked in this letter and to see if other residents on this island have the same view as I do.
BEN GREENWAY. |
Sonny Duncombe
Guest
| | Posted on Friday, April 16, 2010 - 01:59 pm: | |
IN RESPONSE to your article dated 28 March, I wish to publish certain comments relating to my sentence.
I wish to let it be known that, firstly, I have not committed a violent crime for 11 years. In fact my last court appearance in Guernsey for assault was in 1999. Secondly, the wounding charge was committed in 1994 - 16 years ago. I have tried to put this behind me but it won't go away. It seems to be my unforgiving shadow in life. Thirdly and finally, I did not run away from the scene, in actual fact I was asked to leave The White Hart by the bar staff after I had drunk my drink.
I do not believe I pose a serious risk, considering my offending has become less and less over the years. I am now a dedicated father and try to avoid situations such as the one I am now incarcerated for. I feel the institution we live under does not recognise change in people, therefore, refuses to give people like me a chance.
SONNY DUNCOMBE,
c/o Guernsey Prison. |
John Andrews
Guest
| | Posted on Monday, April 12, 2010 - 01:57 pm: | |
MY SON was caught speeding at the end of December, appeared in court on 3 March and received a fine plus one month off the road for the offence.
In all cases it literally means one calendar month, which in his case meant that he could reapply for his licence on 3 April from the VRLD office in Bulwer Avenue. Because it was in March, his suspension was 31 days, the day he was due back was a Saturday (VRLD is closed), also on the 4th (Sunday) and the 5th (bank holiday Monday).
The earliest time he can reapply to get his licence back is 6 April, by which time he has been unable to ride his motorcycle for 34 days.
If he had been sentenced at any time in February, his calendar month suspension would not only have been 28 days, but he would be eligible to reapply for his licence on the same day of the week as he appeared in court, which of course would have been a weekday (Monday to Friday) when the VRLD would also have been working.
Surely everyone committing the same offence should pay the same penalty and the standard month suspension should be four weeks, i.e. 28 days for everybody. My son (and everyone else in court on 3 March) has had an extra six days' suspension through no fault of his own. It's about time the law was reviewed.
JOHN ANDREWS. |
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