Sad day - Cyclist killed overnight in Cott

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CycleSnail
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Re: Sad day - Cyclist killed overnight in Cott

Postby CycleSnail » Tue May 14, 2013 6:53 pm

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/br ... n-hit-run/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A father of two who helped his drunk friend make a getaway after a hit and run which claimed the life of a City Beach cyclist has been jailed for 20 months.

Sean James Smith, 28, was found guilty by a District Court jury of helping his friend Ross Thomas Murray flee after Mr Murray knocked over 26-year-old cyclist Tim Anderson with his car on March 8 last year.

Mr Anderson was fatally injured when he was hit from behind while cycling on Curtin Avenue. He died from his injuries in hospital.

Smith was jailed for 20 months for being an accessory after the fact.

His driver's licence was not disqualified.

Outside court, Mr Anderson's father Ian said he was disappointed by the sentence and that he did not lose his licence.

"Justice hasn't been seen," he said.

District Court judge Richard Keen said Smith knew his friend had hit someone when they stopped on Marine Parade and when he helped his friend leave the area.

"It was not only callous of him, it was callous of you," Judge Keen said.

Judge Keen said leaving an injured man by the side of the road without ensuring he received medical assistance was "callous and lacks basic humanity".

"It is abhorrent," he said.
Mr Anderson expressed disappointment that the only charge laid against Smith was being an accessory after the fact.

"We've lost Tim and our sentence is a life sentence so nothing will ever equate to that," he said outside court.

"I always believed they knew (Murray) had hit someone. There's no question he (Smith) was a major contributing factor to Tim's death."
Smith will be eligible for parole after serving 10 months.
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biker jk
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Re: Sad day - Cyclist killed overnight in Cott

Postby biker jk » Tue May 14, 2013 9:58 pm

Clearly an inadequate punishment. Hopefully he will have to explain to his children why he spent 10 months in gaol.

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Re: Sad day - Cyclist killed overnight in Cott

Postby colmando » Tue May 14, 2013 10:10 pm

10 months for accessory to murder... makes you feel good about the justice system

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Re: Sad day - Cyclist killed overnight in Cott

Postby elStado » Tue May 14, 2013 11:57 pm

Sad day - help your mate escape from a hit and run and leave a another man to die on the side of the road and only get a slap on the wrist.

No wonder so many people are brazen about breaking the law. There's no real consequences to their actions, this is a clear example of it.
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Re: Sad day - Cyclist killed overnight in Cott

Postby rolandp » Wed May 15, 2013 8:39 am

Please pass the salt, to rub into the wounds of all touched by this event. PerthNow reports that they were speeding, racing with each other and the other driver was charged with driving under the influence. This was like one car with two steering wheels, either individual should had said no we are doing wrong and stopped, but they didn't. Both should have been charged with the same offences. 10 months eligible for parole is not long enough.

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Re: Sad day - Cyclist killed overnight in Cott

Postby Walst » Wed May 15, 2013 12:58 pm

elStado wrote:Sad day - help your mate escape from a hit and run and leave a another man to die on the side of the road and only get a slap on the wrist.

No wonder so many people are brazen about breaking the law. There's no real consequences to their actions, this is a clear example of it.
Indeed, that is the frightening thing.

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Re: Sad day - Cyclist killed overnight in Cott

Postby trailgumby » Wed May 15, 2013 1:33 pm

Just went back through the thred... what sentence did the driver get? Or is that still pending?

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find_bruce
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Re: Sad day - Cyclist killed overnight in Cott

Postby find_bruce » Wed May 15, 2013 4:09 pm

Driver, Ross Murray, pleaded guilty to aggravated dangerous driving causing death and failure to stop and render assistance. Because it was a guilty plea he was sentenced back in August 2012

Murray received had a head sentence of 5 years and 3 months with a non-parole period of 3 years & 3 months.

Smith was only charged with being an accessory AFTER the fact & this is an important distinction. An accessory before the fact faces the same sentence as the offender, while an accessory after the fact faces a lesser sentence - in WA it is "half of the penalty with which the principal offence is punishable on indictment".

When you consider that Tim Anderson was seriously injured but not dead at the time he helped Murray escape & deprive Tim Anderson of timely medical treatment, I don't understand why Smith's head his sentence was only 20 months. There may be some factor that hasn't been reported, but it doesn't seem right to me.

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exadios
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Re: Sad day - Cyclist killed overnight in Cott

Postby exadios » Wed May 15, 2013 11:25 pm

find_bruce wrote:Driver, Ross Murray, pleaded guilty to aggravated dangerous driving causing death and failure to stop and render assistance. Because it was a guilty plea he was sentenced back in August 2012

Murray received had a head sentence of 5 years and 3 months with a non-parole period of 3 years & 3 months.

Smith was only charged with being an accessory AFTER the fact & this is an important distinction. An accessory before the fact faces the same sentence as the offender, while an accessory after the fact faces a lesser sentence - in WA it is "half of the penalty with which the principal offence is punishable on indictment".

When you consider that Tim Anderson was seriously injured but not dead at the time he helped Murray escape & deprive Tim Anderson of timely medical treatment, I don't understand why Smith's head his sentence was only 20 months. There may be some factor that hasn't been reported, but it doesn't seem right to me.
That's an important point. Most of the significant elements of a criminal case are usually not reported by news sites. This is why the outcomes are viewed with alarm by the relatively uninformed public.

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Re: Sad day - Cyclist killed overnight in Cott

Postby Aushiker » Sat Oct 04, 2014 11:29 pm

This is meant to be the memorial to Tim Anderson at Mosman Park Beach but his ghost bike is missing. I hope there is an innocent explanation for this. Anyone have more information?

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Re: Sad day - Cyclist killed overnight in Cott

Postby Yagan » Wed Oct 08, 2014 6:50 pm

I drove past about two weeks. Saw the memorial. The ghost bike had been moved 200m south.

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Aushiker
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Re: Sad day - Cyclist killed overnight in Cott

Postby Aushiker » Tue Oct 21, 2014 5:17 pm

Good news ... Tim's bike is back at Mosman Park Beach. It looks like it was taken away to get cleaned up and repainted in time for the upcoming Tim's Ride.

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Re: Sad day - Cyclist killed overnight in Cott

Postby MissMurd3r84 » Fri Dec 25, 2015 9:05 am

The person responsible for Tim's death has been released from jail http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western ... 7cac975eac" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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biker jk
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Re: Sad day - Cyclist killed overnight in Cott

Postby biker jk » Fri Dec 25, 2015 12:04 pm

MissMurd3r84 wrote:The person responsible for Tim's death has been released from jail http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western ... 7cac975eac" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Shocking. A minimum of five years served would have been appropriate.

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ColinOldnCranky
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Re: Sad day - Cyclist killed overnight in Cott

Postby ColinOldnCranky » Fri Dec 25, 2015 12:45 pm

I'm pleased that his release made the news. Gives him and his loathsome mate (the one that assisted after the fact) less chance to slink away into the darkness for a while. While I expect that he has many mates that will not be concerned, I hope he has many friends, family and acquaintances that will give him further reason to regret.

And further hope that we never hear of him or his mate ever again. Three years three months may be just enough to do that.
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