A drunken driver who snapped a photo showing he was speeding at 141 mph before a deadly crash in England has been sentenced to 17 years in prison

Darryl Anderson was drunk behind the wheel of his Audi SUV, had his accelerator pressed to the floor and was barreling toward a car ahead of him when he snapped a photo of his speedometer. The picture showed a car in the foreground, a collision warning light on his dashboard and a speed of 141 mph (227 kph).

An instant later, he slammed into the car in the photo. The driver, Shalorna Warner, was not seriously injured but her 8-month-old son and her sister were killed instantly, authorities said. Evidence showed Anderson never braked.

Anderson, 38, was sentenced Tuesday to 17 years in prison for the May 31 crash in northern England that killed little Zackary Blades and Karlene Warner. Anderson pleaded guilty last week in Durham Crown Court to two counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

  • TheHarpyEagle@lemmy.worldEnglish
    11·
    4 months ago

    So the crime committed and the effect on the victims, if any, doesn’t affect the sentencing?

    • SreudianFlipEnglish
      31·
      4 months ago

      Uh, sure it does, in the sense that if someone is unable to be rehabilitated, they should be kept away from the public? Not sure what you’re asking except maybe “can I please just have a little revenge?”

      • TheHarpyEagle@lemmy.worldEnglish
        11·
        4 months ago

        I’m confused on how you quantify rehabilitation. How do you know someone has changed?

        And yeah I guess I’m genuinely having trouble wrapping my head around the idea that first degree murder and shoplifting could result in the same sentence.

        • SreudianFlipEnglish
          21·
          4 months ago

          Why would they result in the same sentence? That’s a strange proposal that I have never heard before.

          Regarding rehab, well that’s a procedural question more than legislative. Ask experts in the field. It’s not like the problem is new, even if it’s evident we are going about it fundamentally wrong.

          • TheHarpyEagle@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            4 months ago

            Now I’m confused, I thought the premise of this thread is that jail time should be based not on the severity of the crime, but only how long it takes to rehabilitate the offender. Did I misunderstand that?

            • SreudianFlipEnglish
              11·
              4 months ago

              Yeah I was pointing out that the prison system may be completely ineffective where it’s based on punishment. It’s a critical view, not prescriptive, and designing a new system requires a revolutionary approach, with consideration for the needs of the victims as well as the mental state of the perpetrators.

              I wasn’t proposing anything pat and simple like one-size-fits-all incarceration, completely the opposite, actually. Maybe forever in prison, maybe no jail time. Justice, in terms of repairing things for a victim, might mean a lifelong burden for the convicted, or something else entirely. It would necessarily be complex. More emotional, less rational people would have a problem with that since they can’t see justice without punishment.