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Sentencing of Gary McCourt - (Death of Audrey Fyfe)

1) Sheila Gilmore MP wrote to Liz Paton regarding the lenient sentencing of Gary McCourt, who was convicted of causing the death of Audrey Fyfe through careless driving. 2) McCourt had previously killed a student in 1986 through reckless driving and was given only a 5-year driving ban and 300 hours of community service for killing Fyfe. 3) Gilmore found the sentence to be too lenient given the circumstances and McCourt's criminal history, and hoped the Crown would appeal the sentence.

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David Raine
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161 views1 page

Sentencing of Gary McCourt - (Death of Audrey Fyfe)

1) Sheila Gilmore MP wrote to Liz Paton regarding the lenient sentencing of Gary McCourt, who was convicted of causing the death of Audrey Fyfe through careless driving. 2) McCourt had previously killed a student in 1986 through reckless driving and was given only a 5-year driving ban and 300 hours of community service for killing Fyfe. 3) Gilmore found the sentence to be too lenient given the circumstances and McCourt's criminal history, and hoped the Crown would appeal the sentence.

Uploaded by

David Raine
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© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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RAINE, David

From: Sent: To: Cc: Subject: GILMORE, Sheila 08 May 2013 19:56 [Link]@[Link] RAINE, David Sentencing of Gary McCourt - (Death of Audrey Fyfe

Dear Ms Paton

I am writing to you regarding the recent Court case where Gary McCourt was convicted of causing the death of Audrey Fyfe (a member of Spokes and CTC) by careless driving, having previously killed a student in 1986 through reckless driving. For the latest death, McCourt was given a 5-year driving ban and 300 hours community service. This accident took place within my constituency and it appears to be fully accepted that Mrs Fyfe was cycling in an appropriate manner and the collision which killed her was the fault of the driver. To find that the convicted driver had been previously convicted of reckless driving which killed a cyclist makes the sentence even more incomprehensible. While I appreciate that sentencing decisions will always reflect the particular circumstances of a case, the leniency of this sentence does not appear to be in any sense commensurate to the circumstances. Drivers have a heavy responsibility towards road users such as cyclists and pedestrians and a failure to exercise due care is a very serious matter. Any legal system exists to protect those who are in a relatively weak position and cyclists are in that position often in our streets. The law also seeks to influence behaviour and the message from this sentence seems to be that drivers who kill cyclists in this manner are not be behaving in a manner which deserves significant punishment. I am also concerned at the reported comments from the Sheriff about the fact that Ms Fyfe was not wearing a cycling helmet. The wearing or otherwise of a helmet did not in any way contribute to this accident. There are many views on helmet wearing and in many countries with much higher levels of cycling and higher levels of cycling safety helmets are little used. The drivers actions here caused the accident and the death, and the wearing of a helmet makes no difference to the fact that the driver was guilty of careless driving. I hope that the Crown will appeal this sentence. I also hope that the sentencing guidelines can be reviewed in the light of this case. Yours sincerely
Sheila Gilmore MP | Edinburgh East
84 Niddrie Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH16 4DT | 0131 661 7522| [Link]@[Link] |[Link] Follow me on Twitter - @SheilaGilmoreMP - and Facebook - [Link]/SheilaGilmoreMP
Constituents who contact Sheila Gilmore MP and her staff by email will receive a monthly enewsletter at the email address provided. If you would prefer not to receive this free monthly update which includes details of Ms Gilmores work, please follow the instructions at the foot of the enewsletter to unsubscribe. Your personal information will not be used for any party political purpose, or be used by any other organisation, including the Scottish Labour Party.

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