[Closed] Killing cyclist is fair game

Some utter drunk **** drove their car in to my house last month leaving a huge hole in my living room. When confronted he drove off up the road whilst I stood there laughing holding his number plate. The hole is there for the foreseeable too as I need a builder to do a lot of the repair work from the inside. If I’d have known this....

The judge, David Farrell QC, sentencing, said the situation was caused by the victim, who was drunk

I would’ve beaten the ****er senseless rather than letting him drive off.

He said he punched Lapinskas “two or three times” in the face

and

it was never his intention to kill or seriously harm anyone.

feel pretty much mutually exclusive to me. 16 month sentence isn't much for killing someone, then to suspend it too! I hope the prosecution appeal the sentence. And 'punched and killed drunk man' would have been a fairer reflection of the situation.

I would’ve beaten the **** senseless

Risked your liberty, and possibly life if he was tooled up over a wing mirror? Wow! How do you beat someone senseless without a genuine risk of killing them?

edit - sorry misread your post, it was your house. But still could have been jailed for going too far, it's not like protecting yourself against an immediate threat from an intruder.

At the end of the article the senior PC says that, “I hope they get some closure”. You might if he was jailed for 15 years not 0.

The judge, David Farrell QC, sentencing, said the situation was caused by the victim, who was drunk

For manslaughter, no minimum sentence, judges discretion, he could have literally walked free.

PS Less click-bait thread title next time please!

Admittedly the cyclist part does not seem to be relevant

Nope, it isn't at all relevant.

Actually relieved it's not another killer driver let off with a slapped wrist news story though.

On another note, a 66 yr old man died in the Yorkshire Dales yesterday - no-one else involved and it was simply a suspected brake failure, but some of the hateful posts on Facebook are shocking - saying things like 'great, another dangerous cyclist off our roads' and shit like that. We really are despised by certain quarters of our society. 🙁

So hypothetically, you catch some little stoat stealing your bike..I think many of us would be tempted to give them a quick punch or 2. Fact the guy died is unlucky, but I can't say I'm outraged the guy didn't get sent to jail.

edit – sorry misread your post, it was your house. But still could have been jailed for going too far, it’s not like protecting yourself against an immediate threat from an intruder.

He drove in to my house as in through the outer wall and in to the living room because he was shit faced. He then drove off. If he’d not have hit another car first, utterly wrecking it, I dread to think what could’ve happened. Ten years ago I’ll freely admit I would’ve beat the shit out of him and not have been remotely bothered by it. Now I’m almost a grownup I let him drive off because I had his number plate embedded in my house.

I would’ve denied hitting him too. Crashing in to a house can cause serious bruising don’t you know. You appear to have also not taken in to account that my post regarding beating him up was sarcastic owing to the judges response. You know, the bit I took the time to quote 😉

How is your situation legally? If he has money or assets consider a civil action such as negligence or trespass (maybe even nuisance) to put right the cost and distress.

It's thanks to the Daily Mail. They are quite despicable in turning cyclists into an 'other' group.

How is your situation legally?

Insurance have paid out and have the crime reference in order to chase up and reclaim the costs. I’m normally quite laid back nowadays, but I hope the CPS decide to throw the book at him.

I did seek legal advice regarding suing him, mainly because I think he needs to be taught a lesson and some people only learn if they get smacked right in the wallet. Unfortunately according to the solicitor I spoke to I’d have to undergo a psych evaluation to prove I’ve been caused emotional distress. I haven’t though, I just think the guy deserves to be punished for his actions.

Apologies, I appear to have derailed the thread.

Unfortunate use of the label 'cyclist'. It would have been more descriptive and pertinent to label him 'drunk'.

Hard one on the sentence - on one hand he killed the dude over superficial damage to a car. On the other I'm a bit of a fan of judging someone by their actions not the consequence of those actions. How many other people punched someone in the face two are three times across the land that night and what happened to them? Just because this one died does not make the act and intent any more violent. If he had gone back into the house and got a shotgun and tried to blast the drunk to bits but missed I'd hope it would have got a harsher sentence than punching him in the face.

That's a ridiculous sentence!

zilog6128
Subscriber
The judge, David Farrell QC, sentencing, said the situation was caused by the victim, who was drunk

can’t really argue with that, though

Erm...did he punch himself?

I didn't see any mention but was there corroboration of the initial incident? Or, is it possible that actually he accidentally rode into the car and damaged it?

Clickbait thread title.

You can kill people and not be jailed for it in a variety of situations. The judge will have had far more details of the case than we've seen reported, and will have used the sentencing guidelines. They don't just make it up.

You can always lodge an appeal if you think it's unduly lenient.