Unduly Lenient Sentences (s. 36 CJA 1988): The Correct Approach to Sentencing Where Multiple Deaths Occur as a Result of Dangerous Driving: R v Robert Anthony Brown [2018] EWCA Crim 1775
| Published date | 01 December 2018 |
| Date | 01 December 2018 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0022018318814096 |
| Subject Matter | Case Notes |
Case Note
Unduly Lenient Sentences
(s. 36 CJA 1988): The Correct
Approach to Sentencing
Where Multiple Deaths
Occur as a Result
of Dangerous Driving
R v Robert Anthony Brown [2018] EWCA Crim 1775
On 27 April 2018, Robert Brown (B) pleaded guilty at a plea and trial preparation hearing (PTPH) to two
counts of causing death by dangerous driving contrary to s. 1 Road Traffic Act 1988 and one count of
driving while disqualified contrary to s. 103(1)(b) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 and Sched. 2 of the Road
Traffic Offenders Act 1988.
B was sentenced on 27 April 2018 to concurrent terms of nine years imprisonment for each count of
causing death by dangerous driving and four months for driving while disqualified. Pursuant to ss 34 and
35A of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 he was disqualified from driving for a total period of
15 years and ordered to take an extended driving test. He was also sentenced in relation to summary
driving offences for which no separate penalty was imposed.
The offence took place on 22 February 2018 in Coventry. A group of three mothers and their nine
children were crossing a road in a built-up residential area. The speed limit was 30 mph. The group had
checked that it was safe to cross the road and began to do so, the children being under control of the
mothers.
B was in a car with a woman, Harrison (H). B was observed to be driving well over the speed limit by
witnesses who said he was driving ‘like a mad man’ and ‘at motorway speeds’. His driving position was
said to be ‘lent right back with an arm high up on the wheel like a boy racer’. B overtook a van and a taxi,
cutting in front of them at such speed that his vehicle was seen to wobble. He accelerated until he was
travelling at 70 mph and had the group of mothers and children clearly in sight over 100 metres away.
The evidence relied on by the prosecution stated that a competent driver travelling at 60 mph would have
been able to stop over 20 metres before the group. It is noteworthy that B had never held a driving
licence.
The car hit two of the children with what appeared to be no effort made to avoid them. B only began to
brake immediately prior to impact. The two children aged 2 and 6 were thrown into the air and died from
the multiple injuries that they sustained.
B drove off but stopped the car nearby. He returned to the scene with H who told people that she had
been driving the car. A man tried to prevent B from leaving the scene but was struck by H. Both fled and
hid in a nearby garden. Both were subsequently arrested.
B was uncooperative with the police. He made no comment when interviewed before changing his
account to blame a third party (not H) for the offence saying they jumped from the car after impact.
When confronted with evidence of this being a lie, B told the interviewing officer to ‘shove it up your
fucking arse’.
The Journal of Criminal Law
2018, Vol. 82(6) 431–433
ªThe Author(s) 2018
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0022018318814096
journals.sagepub.com/home/clj
To continue reading
Request your trial