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21/02/2012
Charter Barrister secures suspended sentence in fatal road accident prosecution
Charter Barrister Darren Snow and Louise Weatherby of Paul Martin & Co Solicitors recently represented driver Hugh Boyle, aged 52, in a case of causing death by careless driving. Working closely with insurers and an expert witness they successfully fought a Newton Hearing to determine the degree of carelessness involved. They secured a suspended sentence for Mr Boyle having discredited the police accident investigator’s evidence on the circumstances.
Blinded by the sun Mr Boyle collided with two horses on a country lane in Essex, tragically killing one rider, injuring the other and killing both horses. The Crown alleged that Mr Boyle had driven for 8 seconds travelling over 100 metres at 30mph whilst blinded by the sun. It was successfully proved at a Newton Hearing with the evidence of expert accident investigator Rod Newberry of Hawkins Associates, that the gradient of the road combined with the position of Mr Boyle’s van’s sun visor meant that Mr Boyle would have been effected by the sun only a short distance from the point of impact leaving little more than 3 seconds to react to the blinding sun before the collision. Additionally Mr Newberry showed the Court how the two dark horses and their riders in dark clothing would have been almost invisible before the sun had blinded Mr Boyle due to them being ridden against a dark hedgerow which would have cast a shadow over them and the road.
Read the local news coverage here.