'No Risk To The Public' Who Aren't At A Bus Stop?

Joyce Bacon, 60, and Adele Boylin, 55, both mothers, were standing waiting to board the bus in Piccadilly Gardens when they were hit by a double decker Stagecoach being driven by 35-year-old Baruania Baros. Baros, a bus driver with four years experience with a clean driving licence, was helping a disabled passenger leave the bus when he accidentally pressed the accelerator instead of the brake pedal.

Baros, from Ashton-under-Lyne, pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death by careless driving, and was given a suspended prison sentence. The judge said his pregnant wife would be harmed if Baros was locked up and ruled that he did not pose a 'risk or danger' to the public.

We've been here before, so the leniency should probably be expected.

An expert found that Baros had left the bus in gear, rather than in neutral as it should have been. If it had been left in neutral, the accident would have been avoided, the court heard.

And yet despite clear evidence of incompetence, the (female!) judge has more sympathy for the perpetrator than the two victims.  

'This was a fatal mistake on your part,' Judge Suzanne Goddard KC told Baros, describing the incident as a 'tragic accident'.

I wonder why? Does she have a soft spot for public transport workers?  

The court heard that Baros and his family arrived in the UK as part of a refugee program, after spending time detained in a refugee camp in Tanzania.

Ah. Now I see. What are two dead Englishwomen set against your desire to stroke your progressive conscience, eh, Susie?  

Sentencing, Judge Goddard told Baros: 'In my judgement you do not present a risk or danger to the public. You have a good record, an absence of previous convictions and you have shown remorse. 'Here there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation, strong personal mitigation, and immediate custody will result in significant harmful impact upon others.'

Have all our judiciary forgotten that prison is supposed to be a punishment as well?