CRIMINAL DIVISION
Strand London WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
MR JUSTICE GARNHAM
HIS HONOUR JUDGE EDMUNDS KC
(RECORDER OF THE ROYAL BOROUGH OF KENSINGTON AND CHELSEA)
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REX |
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JONATHAN SHAUN SUMNER |
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Lower Ground Floor, 46 Chancery Lane, London, WC2A 1JE
Tel No: 020 7404 1400; Email: rcj@epiqglobal.co.uk (Official Shorthand Writers to the Court)
MS A POPE appeared on behalf of the Crown.
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Crown Copyright ©
MR JUSTICE GARNHAM:
The Facts
"As I passed through (a village called) Somerford. I accept that I picked up my mobile phone, opened the lock screen and used it. Just after leaving Somerford, prior to the accident occurring, I closed the lock screen on my phone and put it down. As I approached the scene of the accident, the sun was in my eyes. I couldn't see the road ahead, so I slowed down. I was going faster than 20 MPH as I left Somerford but believe I had slowed down to 20 MPH or less when the sun was in my eyes. The accident occurred as I was slowing down. I was not using my mobile phone at the time the accident happened."
Sentencing
"By your basis of plea you agree that you were driving the tractor unit at a speed in excess of the relevant speed limit of 20 miles per hour. It would seem on the calculations in this case to have been well in excess of the permitted speed. Further, you accept that you were using your mobile phone at a time approximate to the collision, (but) the court will sentence you on the basis that you were not using the phone at the time of the collision [...] You refer to the sun affecting your vision at the time of the collision. You clearly failed to properly address this common hazard. The sun visor had not been pulled down and you had not put your sunglasses on, which were present in the tractor. By your pleas of guilty you accept that the collision was your fault, you should have seen the two cyclists and had time and space to avoid this accident."
Argument
Discussion
Sentence
Disqaulification