Anger at sentence for crash tragedy
Oct 4 2008 The Journal
THE parents of a road crash victim have slammed the five-year jail term imposed on the drink-driver who killed their son.
Daltery Pearson set off in his Ford Mondeo with Dane Naylor and their partners to watch a televised football match in Newcastle on January 19 this year.
Pearson, who had never taken a driving test and had been banned from the roads just weeks before, had originally planned to leave his car in the city centre overnight.
But Newcastle Crown Court was told he, for reasons that were unclear, decided to drive home instead of taking the bus despite being more than twice the legal alcohol limit.
Witnesses told that over three miles, Pearson drove aggressively at high speed, weaving between lanes, driving too close to other vehicles, overtaking inappropriately and cutting in.
Prosecutor Kingsley Hyland said one motorist described the Mondeo’s speed as “ridiculous” while another put Pearson’s speed at more than 80mph.
Pearson finally lost control on the Coast Road at Wallsend as he overtook a car, struck and mounted the central reservation kerb and scraped along the crash barrier. The car then rotated, narrowly missing the vehicle he had been trying to overtake and colliding with pedestrian barriers before mounting a grass verge and crashing into a lamp-post.
Passenger Mr Naylor – whose partner Samantha Hogg gave birth to their son four months after the crash – died from multiple injuries after being flung from the car.
Pearson, of Burnside Close, Cowpen, Blyth, admitted causing death by dangerous driving, driving with excess alcohol, no insurance and while disqualified.
The 29-year-old, who has previous convictions for motoring offences including drink driving and dangerous driving, was yesterday jailed for five years and banned from the roads for six.
But Mr Naylor’s parents Joan and David Naylor, both 62, of Killingworth Avenue, Backworth, North Tyneside said they did not think the sentence was long enough.
“I think the sentence is disgusting,” Mrs Naylor said. “I was expecting it to be a lot longer than that – about nine or 10 years. He could have killed a lot more people.”
She said Dane, 33, had adored his elder son, Shay, aged eight, by former partner Claire Barron.
Tom Finch, defending, said there was clear evidence Pearson had not intended to drive home that night.
“He never goes a day without being tormented by the events of January 19 this year,” Mr Finch said. “The guilt he feels is extremely deep. His remorse is genuine.”
In a letter to the court, Ms Hogg, 24, said she had forgiven Pearson, who is married to her sister Donna and hoped to build bridges between the two families for the sake of their children.
