Chit Chat
There is currently 1 person viewing this thread.
19 Dec 14
18:49
Joined:
Date Joined:
10 Jan 12
Bethany Mackie jailed over Christian Smith's death on charity ride
A teenager who killed a cyclist during a charity bike ride has been sentenced to five years in prison.
Bethany Mackie, 18, was more than twice the legal alcohol limit when her car hit Christian Smith, 38, from behind.
He was cycling alongside his wife on the last leg of a 24-hour, 248-mile ride across Kent and Sussex on 22 March.
The father of three was pronounced dead at the scene on the A2990 Old Thanet Way, near Chestfield, Whitstable.
Mackie, of Beltinge Road, Herne Bay, had previously admitted causing death by dangerous driving and driving with excess alcohol.
She was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court.
The court heard after she crashed into Mr Smith she carried on up the road for 400 metres.
Bethany Mackie was more than twice the legal drink-drive limit
A black box device fitted by Mackie's insurance firm to her car revealed she had been driving at up to 76mph on the 60mph road moments before the crash.
Mr Smith's widow Katie Smith read a victim impact statement before the sentencing.
She said: "I was alone with him on that road and I tried desperately to save him, but I couldn't.
"This is something I will always feel guilty for. A short time later I had to wake up my 12, nine and five-year-old to tell them that their daddy was dead.
"The sounds that they made can only be described as horrifying. I have heard that sound many times over the last few months - from my own mouth as well as theirs."
Mr Smith was raising money for the mental health charity Mind.
More than £82,000 has been raised on his JustGiving webpage, eclipsing his £1,000 target figure.
A teenager who killed a cyclist during a charity bike ride has been sentenced to five years in prison.
Bethany Mackie, 18, was more than twice the legal alcohol limit when her car hit Christian Smith, 38, from behind.
He was cycling alongside his wife on the last leg of a 24-hour, 248-mile ride across Kent and Sussex on 22 March.
The father of three was pronounced dead at the scene on the A2990 Old Thanet Way, near Chestfield, Whitstable.
Mackie, of Beltinge Road, Herne Bay, had previously admitted causing death by dangerous driving and driving with excess alcohol.
She was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court.
The court heard after she crashed into Mr Smith she carried on up the road for 400 metres.
Bethany Mackie was more than twice the legal drink-drive limit
A black box device fitted by Mackie's insurance firm to her car revealed she had been driving at up to 76mph on the 60mph road moments before the crash.
Mr Smith's widow Katie Smith read a victim impact statement before the sentencing.
She said: "I was alone with him on that road and I tried desperately to save him, but I couldn't.
"This is something I will always feel guilty for. A short time later I had to wake up my 12, nine and five-year-old to tell them that their daddy was dead.
"The sounds that they made can only be described as horrifying. I have heard that sound many times over the last few months - from my own mouth as well as theirs."
Mr Smith was raising money for the mental health charity Mind.
More than £82,000 has been raised on his JustGiving webpage, eclipsing his £1,000 target figure.
sort by:
Show
per page
Replies: 70
|
By:
 |
|
By:
A disgusting sentence. 5 years, a complete joke.
|
|
By:
Perhaps the justice system is relying on a lifetime of torment for the perpetrator.
|
|
By:
5 years is a long time when you're young
|
|
By:
5 years is a long time when you're young, WTF, 38 years old I think he was robbed of a lot more than 5 years, the bitch should be doing 15 years. she will be out after 3 years, is that a long time when you're young FFS.
|
|
By:
you should try not to be so hateful
|
|
By:
 save it for the priest on Sunday. |
|
By:
christian was probably christian, he probably would have forgiven already
|
|
By:
Starting to think you're a number2 not 1.
|
|
By:
|
|
By:
I certainly would not condone anyone waiting for her to come out of prison and then "explaining to her very forcefully" the error of her ways!
|
|
By:
Dr Slicer, how the devil are you,
 |
|
By:
Not too good I'm sorry to say.
But I hope you are prospering and well. I'm very weary of a lot of things these days, and I'm tired. My advanced age is catching up on me rapidly. AND THATS THE GOOD NEWS! Sorry to have to clarify the matter! |
|
By:
Of course she should get longer but this doesn't seem out of line with other sentences so hard to say it's lenient. Sentencing for drinking and driving should be much stiffer generally, however, regardless of whether or not some innocent dies.
|
|
By:
The lesson from this is that if you want to murder someone, have a couple of drinks and then run them over with a car. 5 years instead of 15-30 or life! I am not suggesting that in this instance it was a deliberate act.
|
|
By:
Sorry to hear that mate, I can echo you post, but that's how it is so just have to get on with it. No magic potions, well not any that don't leave you with mother and father of a hangover.
And before you ask numer0ne I don't drink and drive |
|
By:
Not if Quincy is on your case Slicer
|
|
By:
Yes Slicer it could give someone inclined that way an idea that it may be Worth it.
|
|
By:
CLYDEBANK29 19 Dec 14 20:49
Not if Quincy is on your case Slicer That was a cracking episode. |
|
By:
Mr 29. What you would do is phone Quincy to make sure he is at a family wedding, LAPD to make sure Columbo is away on holiday and to check with Hawaii Bail Bonds that Dog is chasing someone on the US mainland. Also check that Morse is watching Oxford United and that any other detectives are not available at the time. Because they are the only ones with a realistic chance of catching you. Lets see if the real life cops can catch the gang who murdered that poor policeman!
btf- thanks for your interest. Of course retribution in the case as mentioned on this thread is not to be recommended.I would never recommend vigilante action in any shape or form or mention that in the days of the Krays and Richardsons, grannies could walk the street in safety and that the gangs only deliberately killed their own although inevitably there was collateral damage! |
|
By:
Dr Slicer, I'm with you on that. to be serious, It's a situation where everyone loses. A 38 year old guy doing something for others loses his life in tragic circumstances, which will hit many others acquainted with him, not least his wife.
As for the young girl, the same applies to her life and family. if she did not learn from this as soon as she sobered up the the time served will not change that so 5 years/10 years it won't change anything. numberone one was quite right 5/3 years will seem like an eternity to someone who does care about the tragic impact this is having on many people not just themselves. How do you balance this up if you are the Judge, yes you know it demands a deterrent but do you want to (probably) destroy a young life for stupid, recklessness. Glad I'm not the Judge. |
|
By:
"A 38 year old guy doing something for others loses his life in tragic circumstances".
If there was a God or natural justice, things like this would not happen. We know there is no natural justice and of course there is no God. Evil conquers all and the good die young! |
|
By:
I think the sentence is right...she was disgustingly drunk...but she did not intend to kill him
Life is not fair slicer A tragedy r.i.p |
|
By:
I hope she actually serves at least half though...otherwise it would not be justice
|
|
By:
She should serve 2/3 of sentence that is normal procedure
|
|
By:
5 years if she was doing 50 mph may be nearer the mark, but 76 mph while drunk is a friggin disgrace, she deserves to actually serve 5 years so the sentence should basically be double imo.
|
|
By:
This week in Ireland a driver killed eight people and got two years in prison (dead are driver of other car and the seven passengers in the offender's car).
|
|
By:
Terribly sad, but so, so many people drink-drive. As MDH said, that's the real crime. If we raise the penalty for that, then we this will happen less. Everyone thinks they are a great driver, even a great drunk driver. I don't drive, but had a mate drive me home once when he was blatantly battered, and known many people who have done the same. It's not OK, of course, but 5 years is plenty for an 18 year old.
|
|
By:
If you are using her young age as a factor, presumably you would want longer sentences for older criminals?
|
|
By:
 A speeding driver who killed two women on a pedestrian crossing in Fife has been jailed. James Clunie jailed for killing Jane MacDonald and Abby Hucknall in Fife. The 36-year-old, who has been disqualified from driving on three previous occasions, was driving a Land Rover Discovery. He jailed Clunie for three years and two months for causing death by careless driving http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-30249350 |
|
By:
sentence was the minimum given her alcohol reading.
http://sentencingcouncil.judiciary.gov.uk/docs/web_causing_death_by_driving_definitive_guideline.pdf page 13. doesn't seem ok to me. |
|
By:
Sentences in general for drunk driving are too lenient. In this case 10 years would have been more appropriate.
|
|
By:
I disagree
5 years itself is an increase on previous sentences...enough for the moment |
|
By:
Justice is not just about revenge, it main purpose is deterrent, so one must have a balanced justice system.
|
|
By:
Jack Hacksaw - yeah, or rather I think younger people should get lower sentences. I grew up in an environment where loads of people drunk drove. None were monsters. Over time you get more aware of what alcohol does to you. When you're 18 you think you're invincible.
There's been any number of threads on here moaning about speed cams. Speeding is just another form of dangerous, illegal driving - the only moral difference is that the person doing so would be fully aware. |
|
By:
There is drink driving and drink driving, both are wrong but carefully going home a little bit over for a couple miles in a quiet town on empty roads at 20mph is an entirely different crime to going hell for leather at 76mph at more than twice the limit, where the predictable accident is probably going to kill at least one person and maybe a family or two. 5 Years is lenient given early release.
|
|
By:
IMHO she was playing russian roulette with other people's lives there.
|
|
By:
You're largely correct IMO, but the law is such that someone who gets wasted and drives like a nutter down a busy road but is fortunate enough not to hit someone - which will still be in most cases - will get a much lower punishment than someone who is a little bit over the limit and manages to skid into the one person they encounter on the way home. That's where the law needs to change - to reflect the risks take, not the results of fortune.
While you get next to no punishment for taking risks and getting away with them, there will always be people certain that the rules are for someone else. |
|
By:
Spot on there sparky - 5 years is insulting though to the poor man she killed. Anyone know what the max is she could have been given?
|