# 2 Horses killed = 2 year driving ban = JOKE!!



## lea840 (21 July 2011)

What an absolute joke this is... Drink driver kills 2 horses and injures both riders and all he gets is a poxy 2 year ban... this guy lives less than a mile away from me! Stuff like this makes my blood boil 

Holly Hocks highlighted the original news report on this... and this is the update from the court case!

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/397/308759.html


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## benson21 (21 July 2011)

yep, the guy that killed my loan horse, and my new one, broke my back and injured my friend got a 9 month suspended sentence, 200 hours community service and a 3 yr ban last friday. WHERE IS THE JUSTICE IN THIS COUNTRY!!!


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## PaddyMonty (21 July 2011)

What makes it worse is the two year ban would have been for being over the legal driving limit and nothing to do with killing horses.  The killing would have been the £300 fine for driving without due care and attention.


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## lea840 (21 July 2011)

The law in this country makes me sick when it comes to driving related offences. 

My partners cousin was knocked off his bike by a driver pulling out of a junction, he ended up under the car and the driver on two occasions tried to drive away with him still stuck under his car, the driver said he thought he had hit a dog. Very sadly by the time the ambulance and fire brigade turned up it was too late. Witnesses had tried to stop him from driving away, Mark was still alive under the car, it wasn't the impact that killed him, it was the drivers actions of trying to twice drive away which in the end suffocated him. That driver got a 2 year ban and a £1000 fine. 

The law sucks in this country!


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## Loubyloo (21 July 2011)

There is only one word that springs to mind here and that is lunancy!  Horse riders have a voice and we should use it.  The precedent set here affects every rider who hacks out on the roads.  In addition it actually affects the wider public too as this guy who had driven up the M6 whilst full of drink was a threat to everyone.

This guy was 70 years of age, he had fallen out with his wife, had vodka and coke for breakfast then drove from Standish Wigan to the Lakes to clear his head!! When leaving the M6 he hit the two horses and riders whilst leaving the slip road.  I dont care how old he is, how stressed he is, this is not acceptable behaviour and needs the appropriate sanction and I agree with others that what has been dished out is not enough.  The fines imposed will not even cover the cost of the services that attended the incident - including air ambulance for the male rider.

I offer 100% support to Ellen Dodd and Carl Bevan who were the riders involved in this terrible incident.  I am more than willing to help them fight their corner.  Let there be justice.  Let us fight for what is right.


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## Holly Hocks (21 July 2011)

I posted this last night in New Lounge.  I was appalled at the sentence.  People criticise young drivers, but to be honest, when I'm out riding, it's the old people I'm more worried about - crap eyesight, powerful cars, never passed a driving test, and they don't think anything of drinking and driving - they did it before it was banned and don't see why it should be stopped now....I feel so much for the people involved in this collision (sorry but I can't call it an accident - that implies that nobody was at fault), and their families. I know that if I was one of the riders I would find it very hard to move on...


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## Lolita (22 July 2011)

The laws in England are rubbish for any sort of animal cruelty.


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## madmav (22 July 2011)

If this man had set about these people in a pub and injured them so badly, he would probably have been jailed. If he had randomly killed those horses in a street with an offensive weapon, he would most likely have been jailed.
But because he was driving....I don't understand this blind-side courts have to wielding a car like a dangerous weapon. Sickening and frightening.


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## EAST KENT (22 July 2011)

Read this in the Kentish Express this morning..appalled. That scrote should have got two years and a driving ban of more like ten years. Cannot begin to imagine the suffering Benson endured..I am so so sorry Much as I prefer to go out in quite drab country gear,maybe it is time to get one of those POLITE tabards.That however would not have stopped this scrote..if he is local..makeperfectly sure EVERYONE knows what he has done.


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## benson21 (22 July 2011)

Just to point out, my accident and the one the OP is talking about are 2 diffrent accidents.....unfortunately both with the same outcome.


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## ILuvCowparsely (22 July 2011)

So who gives a (*****  if he had argument or fell out with his other half  no excuse to get behind the wheel of any vehicle when u  drunk.

  The fine is a joke 9oo pounds when they horses alone are worth more than that each   , and the pain horses must have felt and the owners    That judge needs a kick up the *** and a reality check 

 fine £ 2000 min per horse
 £ 3000  for the pain and suffering to both owners and horses 

 court cost and driving ban £ 15 years   
 resit his driving test  

 and thats just for starters


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## benson21 (22 July 2011)

In my mind it doesnt matter how big the fine is. What I wanted from our court case was for the driver to loose something he wasnt ready to give up, as he had forced us to do, like his freedom, and he lost nothing.


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## Cuffey (22 July 2011)

Time to start complaining to your MPs for a change in the law

As above the sentences (include the recent Cumbrian one mentioned in this section) are way too lenient for horses killed and lives ruined.


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## hayley123horses (22 July 2011)

This makes me  furious  .... what kind of sentance is it, it springs to mind that it is not even a sentance he knew what he was doing when he got behind the wheel and because of the ridiculous lunacy more idiots will do exactly the same thing, whilst 2 poor horses are sadly deceased and their owners/ riders left to pick up the pieces.

 sorry it really makes my blood boil as well as a lot of yours


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## sparhawk (22 July 2011)

Despite us seeing horses as pets or part of the family, in the eyes of the law they are property, so hitting a horse is viewed the same as hitting a car or having your 50" plasma TV stolen. I found this out when I was ill enough after losing a horse in a deliberate arson to try and claim from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board.

However that doesn't excuse the paltry sentences in both these cases for the injuries suffered by the people, who in both cases could easily have been killed.


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## Loubyloo (22 July 2011)

Please everyone get off your buts and write to your MP and say how appalled you are at this.  If I had know about Benson before I would have done that for him too.
Three weeks ago the riders in Cumbria were fit and well and enjoying their life with their horses.  Now their life is in threads following this idiot drink driver - he was doing 70mph when he hit those horses he went right underneath them - also think about the mental scarring of the riders.

No I just cant sit back, I'm not going to sit back, I'm kicking up a shindy.

Please just put pen to paper and write to your MP wherever you are in the country - public force can help change laws we must not be silent.  On Monday I will be  speaking with the World Horse Welfare and seeing what they can do.  Anyone got any ideas?  Would a petition help?  Accidents do happen everyday but this could have been avoided - this guy drank vodka and got in his car and drove up the M6 - he wasnt just driving around the corner (and he shouldnt have even been doing that either) he travelled a distance at speed.  The fine he got was probably less than what he pays for his X-type to be serviced.  Our country is in a hell of a financial mess and it should be hard on these villians - £20,000 minimum fine to help the country plus another £20,000 to horse welfare - and yes I would have liked to have seen him sent to jail - I think people who commit grievous bodily harm get sent to jail and in essence this guy was guilty of that - he just hit what they were sitting on not them

Gee sorry to go on..


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## essex_rider (23 July 2011)

My friend and 2 horses were killed earlier this year. I can't really go into it too much as the court case has not finished yet, but i really don't think the outcome is going to be much better


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## onemoretime (23 July 2011)

these sort of drivers should be banned for life as well as heavily fined and should be made to pay for the value of the horse and compensation to the rider.  They have proved that they are not responsible citizens when in charge of a leathal weapon.  (the car)

Earlier in the year a lady in Essex was killed outright together with her horse and the man she was riding with was injured and his horse had to be shot in the road.  I dont know what the outcome was but probably not much better than this.

It really is time to take action.


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## essex_rider (23 July 2011)

onemoretime said:



			Earlier in the year a lady in Essex was killed outright together with her horse and the man she was riding with was injured and his horse had to be shot in the road.  I dont know what the outcome was but probably not much better than this.

It really is time to take action.
		
Click to expand...

This is the case i was referring to above...i will post the outcome on here when i know in about a month, but almost certainly there will be no prison time involved.


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## prettyponies (6 August 2011)

That is disgusting, the law in this country is ridiculous


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## Merry Crisis (6 August 2011)

That stupid old man must realise that he has got off lightly. Wouldnt he redeem himself a tiny bit if he put something back, like sponsoring Carl Bevan, or help financially to buy a couple of good horses for him. I know nothing will replace the two he lost, but it might help. Its a pity he is not local to here, his life would be made a misery. Lets just hope that in two years time, when he has had a bad day, that he doesnt get behind the wheel of his next car.


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