Are judges up to the job
 

In today's Daily Telegraph:


IN COURT

Heartbroken parents’ fury at court ‘gagging order’ in car thief case

Anger at court redacting parts of victims’ impact statement to ‘protect feelings of killer driver’


By Martin Evans, Crime Correspondent


THE parents of a four-year-old girl killed by a speeding car thief had their victim impact statement edited in court to prevent upsetting the defendant when he was being sentenced. Glenn and Rebecca Youens’s daughter, Violet-Grace, died after Aidan McAteer, who had been travelling at 83mph in a 30pmh zone, ploughed into her in a stolen car. But when he appeared in court his lawyers successfully objected to her parents’ impact statement being read out in full in open court.

McAteer’s barrister persuaded the judge that his client would find the *experience “too upsetting”, if the *statement was read out in full.

As a result part of their comments about their devastation at their *daughter’s loss were redacted. Marie Rimmer, who is Mr and Mrs Youens’s local MP, is now calling for a change in the law to prevent a similar situation occurring in the future.

Speaking during a debate in *Westminster Hall, Ms Rimmer told MPs that McAteer’s barrister had *applied for the statement to be edited ahead of sentencing.

She explained: “The judge accepted this and the CPS barrister gave the *parents a copy of their impact statement with parts they could not read out in open court highlighted.”

She said the law had to be improved for victims and survivors and said it was unacceptable that the needs of the defendant were being put first.

She said: “The whole purpose of the victim impact statement is the impact on the victims and the survivors, not the defendant. Guidance should be given to the judiciary that the overriding consideration is for the victim and their family, not whether the impact statement may upset the defendant.”

Violet-Grace was killed in March 2017 and McAteer, who was 23 at the time was jailed two months later for nine years and four months after *admitting causing death by dangerous driving.

Her father told The Guardian: “We were quite shocked at this [redaction] but mostly angry that we had to protect our daughter’s killer from becoming distressed. We had lost our daughter yet we were made to feel like we had to put her killer first … it made us lose faith in the justice system.”

Her parents have launched a petition calling for tougher sentences for *dangerous drivers.

Ms Rimmer, who is the Labour MP for St Helens South and Whiston, said she knew of at least two other hearings in which impact statements had been edited after pleas by defence lawyers.

McAteer went through two red lights before careering out of control and crashing into Violet-Grace, who was with her grandmother at the time.

McAteer’s passenger, Dean Brennan, 27, who also fled the scene, was jailed for six years and eight months.

Violet-Grace’s parents are now campaigning for life sentences for those motorists who kill in such circumstances and, calling for a change in the law, said: “The law is out of date.”

The ful thing is a joke,

i live in rochdale and last year an aisian lady in a range rover mounted the curb, killing and 11 yr old girl, the families only child,

since then the family have been intimidated, the woman caught trying to flee the country with her husband,

the result 20 months in prison!!!!

joke the full thing, it shows no remorse to what was an accident, which i understand but 20 months

That is simply f**king outrageous. Wrong on so many different levels.

is being Asain somehow a factor here ?

No it was an aisan lady that ran the girl over.. would you rsther me say it was a polish man. Ffs

Why do people always try to turn it.

When the judge in the case I mentioned at the start of this thread was asked by the defendant's barrister if some of the statement could be redacted, I would have been impressed if the judge said, "Redact all you want. I will add a month to your client's sentence for each word you cross out."

Would you say "white, christian woman"?

no, but if she was old, id of said old and if she was chinese id of said chinese. thats part of the story stop trying to turn something innocent into something its not

btw i dont know her religion or shoe size if that helps, you guys really are a bunch of dicks on here.

rant - really pisses me off, a little girl loses her life and you guys are more concerned the fact that i tell you the ethnicity of the driver!!!! ive actually seen the cctv footage of the accident, it was very wreckless driving, and the fact that her family then intimidated this poor girls family, and tried to flee the counrty speaks volumes of the type of person she is

I've just read that story in the paper. Disgusting. And trying to flee the country should have quadrupled any sentence

Judge just interprets the law, doesn't make them.

no not at all, and when you know the ins and outs of the accident it makes it worse, esp when mums from the local school have often said the way she drove was an accident waiting to happen, range rover and 11 year old child simply dont mix,