Illegal drivers who kill 'will not be jailed'

12 April 2012

The threat of jail was lifted yesterday from drivers who kill while at the wheel without a licence or insurance.

New rules for judges said that those among the army of illegal drivers on the road who cause death should normally escape with a community punishment.

Even repeat offenders - who have a previous conviction for going unlicensed or without insurance - can avoid imprisonment under the instructions for the courts on how to deal with drivers at fault in fatal accidents.

The ruling handed down by the Sentencing Guidelines Council, the body that sets punishment benchmarks for judges and magistrates, frees millions of illegal drivers from the risk of imprisonment if they kill.

The Council, led by Lord Chief Justice Lord Phillips, made its decision despite carrying out a survey that found a big majority of the public think sentences for serious driving offences are too light; that families of victims of killer drivers are "deeply unhappy" about light sentences; and that most people believe driving without insurance or licence is a very serious offence.

The community punishment rule will apply to new motoring laws that for the first time introduce a charge of causing death by driving unlicensed, disqualified or uninsured.

The new law carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail. Yet the courts will be told that only those who kill while on the road while they are banned from driving will necessarily go to prison.

At least one in ten of all drivers - 1.4 million - are thought to go without insurance. Some estimates put the number at five million.

Most are poor, among them young men and new immigrants desperate to get on the road but unwilling to pay average costs of £400 for insurance.

Uninsured drivers are said by the insurance industry to cause 375,000 accidents a year, to be ten times more likely than others to drink and drive, and to be less likely than ordinary motorists to stop after an accident.

Police chief and Council member Peter Neyroud, former chief constable of Thames Valley police, admitted yesterday that uninsured drivers are often "difficult" drivers.

He also acknowledged that the decision to recommend sentences short of jail for uninsured drivers clashes with public opinion.

A survey carried out for the Council showed that most people see driving without a licence or insurance as a very serious crime on a par with dangerous or drunken driving.

Mr Neyroud held out the prospect of a rethink by the Council.

"As this is a new offence, I think the sensible thing to do is to allow it to come in and the SGC to review where we have got to after a period of time.

"It would be premature to start reviewing a tariff before we have started operating the offence," he said.

The new sentencing rules are likely to be given to the courts in the spring after approval by ministers and MPs of the Justice Select Committee.

They will apply to the new laws on killer drivers that were passed by Parliament in 2006.

These were aimed at plugging the loophole by which careless or illegal drivers could cause fatal accidents, yet escape with light punishments because the law took no account of the deadly consequences of their behaviour.

A new offence of causing death by careless driving will go into effect alongside the law that deals with death and illegal driving after the new sentencing rules have been finally agreed.

The new laws will mean drivers who race or speed, drink heavily or are deeply drugged, or read or send text messages at the wheel are likely to be charged with causing death by dangerous driving if they kill.

This offence, which dates back to the late 1990s, carries a maximum sentence of 14 years and those guilty are certain to be jailed.

Many drivers who kill while using a hand-held mobile phone are likely to fall into this category.

The new offence of causing death by careless driving will cover those who kill while distracted by tuning a radio, fiddling with a satnav, or while tailgating, overtaking on the inside, or while cutting up other drivers or rapidly switching lanes.

The Daily Mail revealed earlier this week that under the new rules these drivers will not necessarily be jailed.

Those found to have shown "momentary inattention" will get community punishments unless there are aggravating factors like a bad driving record or other offences were committed at the same time.

The new sentencing rules also go easy on police officers who kill while on or off duty.

Driving while on public service should count as mitigation, judges will be told.

A long and good driving record held by professional drivers like police officers, fire and ambulance crew members, or bus or taxi drivers, will also be mitigation in any circumstances.

But the new rules on sentencing those who kill while driving illegally draw a distinction between disqualified drivers and those who go without insurance or a licence.

Disqualified drivers will get at least six months in jail, the guidelines say.

Community orders will be given to those driving without insurance or licences where there are no aggravating factors.

Even those whose offence is aggravated - for example by a previous offence - can still get a community punishment.

The sentencing rules were greeted with dismay and anger by road safety campaigners. Lorna Jackson of Brake said: "We campaigned for tough laws on uninsured drivers.

"We need to crack down on people who think it's fine to driver without a licence or insurance.

"These people should not be on the roads. We are deeply concerned that even an aggravated offence will not bring a jail sentence."

She added: "They are getting away with it lightly."

Mr Neyroud, who currently heads the National Policing Improvement Agency, said: "If you are talking about drivers who drive uninsured and without a licence, they tend to be the more difficult offenders."

The law on causing death while driving illegally will cover drivers who are not considered at fault in a fatal accident.

Those who have driven badly will be charged under the dangerous or careless driving laws.

Drivers who did not mean to drive without insurance or a correct licence, or who have just missed a renewal date, will get lenient treatment.

Genuine belief on a driver's part that he or she was legally on the road will be counted as mitigation by the courts.

The council published a survey of what the public thinks taken among more than 1,000 people by pollsters ICPR and GfK NOP.

It found that a third of people rated driving illegally as among the most serious of crimes and the great majority of people thought it was far more serious that driving carelessly.

The survey found: "The two year maximum sentence was generally seen as far too low."

The report also considered the views of families of victims who had seen the law at work.

It said: "Without exception they all expressed deep unhappiness with what they perceived to be the leniency of the sentence imposed."

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