Ok so here goes:
3 years 9 months imprisonment, 10 year driving banSomeone said to me "is that it?" and he's right, it's no where near enough justice for me, however in regards to the law, that's a massive sentence. the 3 years was for killing Matt, and the 9 months was for the other incident. On paper, it would say the max sentance he could get for killing Matt was 5 years, although in reality, once certain guidelines are abided, it's actually 3 years, so he was given the maximum sentence possible. And the 10 year ban is incredible, nobody (not us, nor the family liaison officer, nor even our barrister) expected it. As the judge said "it's the highest ban I've ever given anyone, and with good reason". You have to think, when he gets out (tbh, he'll probs only serve half the prison time (so 22 1/2 months, but if he re-offends, he'll be sent back), but after that, he can't drive (something his job requires) for over 8 years, after which he has to take an extended driving test, which even if he passes, what insurance company is going to fucking touch him? at least without slamming him with a fucking huge premium.
I can't stress btw, this guy is such an A-grade cunt, has never shown any regret or remorse, never apologised and just looked smug throughout. He pretty much was sat there like he was waiting for a bus. though the sentence and especially the ban wiped the smirk off his face. He left shaking his haid and muttered "Excellent", he would have been told he was looking at max 2 years and maybe 2-3 years ban on his license. But we had 20 of us in total in the court room, all family and friends, most of which had written victim impact statements (there were 17 in total, the most our barrister said she had ever seen in a case) and both barrister (prosecution and defence) as well as the judge referenced them, which my uncle, an ex-senior police officer of over 30 years said he'd never seen, nor the absolute dressing down the judge gave him.
The judge was a beast, came back after an hour said (para-phrasing here cos I don't remember exactly) "Ok, you're going to sit there and listen to what you did, then you can stand for your punishment" and with that he went on a fucking rampage, pretty much saying everything we felt, without us even having to say it. only bits I can remember from it was "Matthew was everything you're not, he was kind, generous and loving, whilst you are selfish, arrogant and smug. You have stolen one of our greatest young minds with your reckless thirst for speed and the damage you've caused is incalculable" etc etc etc. Literally the only way he could have made it any better was if he'd walked over and slapped him across the face and called him a cunt afterwards. He pretty much said he'd want to give hime more time, but unfortunately he is restricted by the current law guidelines.
Most satisfying thing hearing him finish reading his sentence followed by "Take him down"
So that's that I guess, won't bring Matt back, but it's something =/
EDIT: There was also a center page spread of the result in todays Bristol Evening Post about it (two reporters have been following the case throughout)
Heres, the online version:
http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Manic-death-driver-jailed-8211-banned-driving-10/story-13588921-detail/story.htmlThere's also another article where they put their opinions:
http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/agony-caused-killer-end/story-13588857-detail/story.html
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