Family Of Cancer Patient Reacts Angrily After Trucker’s Sentence Is Reduced Following Horror Pile-Up
11/07/2011
The family of a cancer patient, who was left unable to undergo vital chemotherapy treatment following a road traffic accident, have reacted furiously after the lorry driver responsible for the crash had his jail sentence reduced.
Dawn Hill, 51, was en-route to Queen’s Hospital in Burton-on-Trent for cancer treatment when the car that she was travelling in was involved in a horrific multi-car pile-up, causing her to be airlifted to Coventry Walsgrave Hospital’s intensive care unit with life threatening head injuries.
Dawn spent two weeks on life-support following the crash and, 18 months on, remains in a specialist brain injury rehabilitation unit, where she is still recovering from her appalling injuries as well as continuing her battle with breast cancer.
The collision involving Dawn and husband, Leslie (54), happened at around midday on 3rd December 2009 when truck driver, Nicholas Raynham, from Ipswich in Suffolk, ploughed through a line of stationary traffic on the A38 dual carriageway, south of Burton-on-Trent after allegedly falling asleep at the wheel.
Dawn also suffered substantial internal and orthopaedic injuries as a result of the accident and now relies upon a wheelchair and walking aids to get around. She also has significant difficulties with most of the basic tasks and continues to require a great deal of nursing care and therapy.
Tragically, just before the crash, Dawn had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was on her way to the hospital for treatment when the collision happened. Her injuries were so severe that her chemotherapy treatment could not take place and the disease progressed, resulting in her undergoing a mastectomy in June 2010.
Raynham’s truck smashed into three cars before hitting Mr and Mrs Hill’s Nissan Micra, shunting their vehicle underneath the trailer of another lorry. He was originally jailed for 16 months on 20th December 2010 at Stafford Crown Court but following an appeal earlier this year, his sentence was reduced to just 12 months.
The collision has also badly affected her husband, Leslie, who has struggled with the massive trauma of being involved in the crash and also witnessing the horrific injuries that Dawn sustained. He has since had to overcome his own injuries and also cope with Dawn’s ongoing health problems.
Now, a serious injuries expert at Irwin Mitchell has teamed up with campaigners, including road safety charity BRAKE, to call for a review into the sentencing guidelines for the offence of “dangerous driving not resulting in death”.
Hilary Wetherell, a solicitor with Irwin Mitchell, who is representing the Hill family, said: “This was an appalling crash which caused a six car pile-up on one of the busiest stretches of road in the region. Raynham not only left a trail of devastation but his actions that day have had life changing consequences for innocent victims, Dawn and Leslie.
“The couple’s lives have been turned upside down as a result of this collision. Their family are extremely angry and feel it is adding insult to injury for the driver responsible to have his sentence reduced whilst they continue to live with the legacy of the damage he caused.
“Currently the maximum sentence for dangerous driving involving non fatal collisions is just two years which is automatically reduced by a third if the defendant pleads guilty. Now, road safety charity, BRAKE, backed by Karl Turner Labour Member of Parliament from Hull, are calling for this appallingly low sentence to be increased to a maximum of seven years and the family of Mrs Hill are wholeheartedly backing this call for the Government to change legislation so that justice for seriously injured victims of road traffic collisions is finally seen to be done.”
Commenting on behalf of the family, Dawn’s sister-in-law, Christine Day, from Kingstanding, Birmingham said: “We are furious as a family that the maximum sentence for dangerous driving remains at just two years. We were so grateful to the original judge at Stafford Crown Court because he gave the harshest sentence that he felt he could, but actually commented at the trial that the sentencing guidelines were wrong.
“To then find out that Raynham has appealed and had his sentence reduced just fills us with anger. We don’t understand the purpose behind these sentencing guidelines and why all of the emphasis is placed on the defendant.
“Dawn has suffered the ‘life sentence’ that Raynham deserves, through no fault of her own. She has spent 15 months in hospital and the specialist rehab centre and has not been able to come back home in all this time. We don’t know what the future holds for her but at the moment it is likely that she will have to remain in specialist care for a long time to come.
“Dawn and Leslie are angry that justice has not been served. We feel it is wrong that the driver had his sentence reduced; he not only stopped Dawn from receiving treatment for cancer that may well have made a substantial difference to her prognosis, but he also put many other lives at risk on the road that day.”
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