Driver fined £100 after motorcyclist left paralysed

This has to be one of the most disgusting stories I have ever read. UK laws are a joke.

When will stupid megistrates wake up and hand out proper sentences. A driver from Leicester involved in a crash which left a motorcyclist paralysed from the chest down has been fined £100.

Kate McCullock was pulling into Launceston Road, Wigston Magna, when her car collided with biker Anthony Law.

he collision left him with multiple injuries, including a broken back, Leicester Magistrates’ Court heard yesterday.

The 62-year-old, of Wigston, is still in hospital more than four months after the crash and has been told by doctors he will never walk again.

Nicki Bennett, prosecuting, read out in court a victim impact statement written by Mr Law. She said: “My life has been completely turned upside down. “I used to enjoy car and bike maintenance.

“I get very emotional knowing I will be unable to do the things I love doing. “This is a very difficult time, especially for Sue (his wife). “The physical level I am at now is the best it will ever be.”

The crash happened as 28-year-old McCullock was making a right turn from Redruth Avenue to Launceston Road at 4.55pm on September 25, 2009.

Her car collided with Mr Law, who was returning on his motorbike from his job of delivering lorries for a motor dealership.

The court heard police investigators believed he was travelling between 23mph and 28mph.

Ms Bennett said: “He has no recollection of what happened to him. “He has no recollection of the day or the week before.”

Mr Law was taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary and then transferred to a specialist spinal unit at Northern General Hospital, which is in Sheffield.

He suffered a broken back, two broken collar bones, a broken shoulder blade, kidney failure, internal bleeding and had to have his spleen removed.

He remains at the hospital’s rehabilitation ward and can use a wheelchair for two hours a day. His family do not know when he will return home.

McCullock, of Carl Street, Aylestone, had her one-year-old daughter with her at the time of the collision.

The court was told she did not see Mr Law coming towards her. She pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention last month.

Yesterday Imogen Cox, in mitigation, said: “What happened that day can only be attributed to a momentary lapse of concentration.

“She accepts that given the severity of his injuries there should be no messing around or trying to save her licence. “There is nothing that will make any difference in that dreadful day.”

Magistrates fined McCullock £100, ordered her to pay £30 costs and £15 victim surcharge.

She was disqualified from driving for a year. Mr Law’s family, who were in court yesterday but did not want to speak publicly, are now pursuing a claim for compensation.

Their personal injury lawyer, Hilton Obery, of Cardiff based firm NewLaw, said: “His wife, Sue, still had no date for his likely release, and they have to contemplate and plan for the enormous changes which his injuries will mean to their lives.

“We shall be pursuing a claim against the car driver, through her insurers, and hope by doing so to achieve a settlement which will provide financially for all Tony’s needs in the years ahead.”