How to get away with hit and run

[Kwacky]

Hire a car



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-no ... e-35472617" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[dogbot]

I don't get this. They were the current keepers of a vehicle that was in a potentially serious accident.

Surely if they deny it being them driving, it's up to them to supply details of who did, otherwise, they're clearly just lying to protect themselves. How is that a basis to not charge them?

If they refuse, then assume they were driving and charge them. No brainer. Who did the hire company charge for the inevitable bash to the vehicles front bumper?

The polis and the CPS really are useless sometimes...

[Kwacky]

They were charged for failing to say who was driving. The criminal courts require a conviction based on a beyond reasonable doubt verdict, which a jury can't give as there will always be doubts about who was driving.

What surprises me is the apparent lack of CCTV footage. Surely there was some footage along the route?

[Monty]

What a C@nt!

[dogbot]

They were charged for failing to say who was driving. The criminal courts require a conviction based on a beyond reasonable doubt verdict, which a jury can't give as there will always be doubts about who was driving.

Yes, I understand how it works. There are a million ways that further evidence could have been produced if the filth weren't a bunch of lazy twats intent on easy convictions to keep up the numbers and their choice not to pursue this further is, frankly, bullshit.

I look forward to the unfortunate leaking of the hirer's name online.

[Kwacky]

I presume there's a civil claim being made. With money being no object his solicitors should soon get to the bottom of things. Maybe then the CPS can review it.

[StMarks]

I presume there's a civil claim being made. With money being no object his solicitors should soon get to the bottom of things. Maybe then the CPS can review it.

Sounds like a "win win" situation,,,, for the solicitors. After all, you'll only really get the justice you can afford to pay for.

..........I look forward to the unfortunate leaking of the hirer's name online.

Will you be less dissatisfied, if it transpires that the 54yo vehicle keeper is not: A politician, a Retired/Senior policeman, Judge, Mason, relative of someone in the CPS , etc etc etc...

[Rossgo]

What utter bullocks. Every time I have rented a car they take all your drivers details and asks who will be driving the vehicle and if you let someone else drive it they are not insured to drive so therefore makes it illegal. So a poor cyclist gets hit and the old bill can't do anything. What is the point to them? Yes it's a hard job but they are as much use a a piece of sellotape picking up a mushed up crap in the carpet!

[Monty]

I suspect it's a leased car not a hire car as there were two driver that had access to it. Him and his partner, not that that should make any difference. This loop hole is used a lot to get off speeding fines so the 6 points and £150 is probably devised to counter that not a hit and run.

[T.C.]

A couple of points if I may. In most cases, the Police (and particularly traffic Police) will investigate fully cases like this and then send the case to the CPS, unlike the old days when it got sent to the prosecutions department and the Chief Inspector in charge would determine if more evidence was required. Unfortunately that job is now left to the CPS and they do not have a clue, and I speak from personal experience having had many an argument about going to trial and letting a court or jury decide, but they will often plea bargain or drop the case to a lower offence just so that they don't have to fight someone corner.

The number of times I have dealt with a fatal and had the evidence to go to trial with a section 1 (death by dangerous driving) and the CPS have said tat they are going to plea bargain for a section 3 (careless driving) just so that they can secure a conviction,

So on that point, don't always assume the Police have not done their job properly (although I appreciate there are also some lazy sods out there) it is often the CPS not doing their job properly and I have even known them lose case files for armed robberies and so the offenders have had to be let go free because they could not present any evidence.

With regards to the civil case which is now the area of law I work in, it is no longer a licence to print money as we nw have fixed costs on fasttrack cases which amounts to about £850 a case. Fast track is a personal injury claim where the injuries are valued up to a maximum of £25,000

Multi track cases (Value over £25,000) are not capped because the injuries are often catastrophic and liabilty is often denied so much more investigation work has to be done. Under the Jackson reforms of a couple of years ago, many personal injury law firms either got taken over by insurers, went bust, closed down or became known as an ABS, and in fact only today one of the biggest have just had to decide how to handle its debts of over £100 million, and it is going to get worse.

But the point I am making is that yes they will investigate this case, the hire company will be held liable and go down as probably the second defendant with the 1st defendant being persons unknown,, bearing in mind that unlike the criminal court system where the case has to be proved beyond all reasonable doubt, in civil law we only have to prove on the balance of probability of 51% or better.

So it is a case of 6 of 1 and half a dozen of the other, but I think this may rattle on for a while

[dogbot]

..........I look forward to the unfortunate leaking of the hirer's name online.

Will you be less dissatisfied, if it transpires that the 54yo vehicle keeper is not: A politician, a Retired/Senior policeman, Judge, Mason, relative of someone in the CPS , etc etc etc...

As long as they get what they deserve, I will be, yeah.

[StMarks]

........As long as they get what they deserve, I will be, yeah.

Ummmmm, actually my point was that those were (possible factors) that could have enabled them to avoid "getting what they deserve"
Anyway, unlikely we'd ever know if that were the caseanyway IMHO.