Hi,
Apologies for the late post regarding the conclusion of this case (I’ve been away since Friday). I don’t want to bore you all and drag this post out for much longer (2 years and 16 pages seems plenty!) but I do just want to thank Clarion for his evidence in court. This was the 2nd day he had to take off work, with the 1st hearing back in March which we attended for half a day, but was then postponed due to lack of court time. Some witnesses may well have chosen not to turn up a 2nd time as there is no personal gain for him, so I really do appreciate his patience and time.
Having an independent witness who gave strong and confident evidence in court was what certainly titled the case in my favour. Otherwise it would simply have my been my version of events against the driver’s. His defence was supported by his co-driver, who really revelled in putting on a ‘performance’ in court, and seemed to suffer from memory illusion of the accident in the 2 years that have elapsed.
As the case progressed, I was getting worried as the prosecution lawyer appeared very weak, and not pinning this guy down on the proper details, but as Clarion mentioned, the Judge was excellent and was just focussed on the plain facts of the case. The defence lawyer tried make up her own version of events and shift the blame on me (which wasn’t a very pleasant experience).
It was a relief when the guilty verdict against the driver was reached. It felt like justice had been done. Emotions then turned more to anger when it then transpired that the driver already had 6 points on his license, 3 for driving with a mobile phone in April of this year…only 1 month after we were all at court for the 1st scheduled hearing! He obviously still has failed to learn any lessons from our 1st encounter. I come away feeling he should consider himself fortunate to still be free to drive on our roads, and hope his time in the court room is the wake-up call he needs.
I note the last few posts about the civil claim. I am a member of CTC, and through RJW, the case was settled towards the end of last year.
Once again, sincere thanks to Clarion. I am in no doubt his evidence was the difference in the case. Having been through the physical injuries of the accident, it would have been a psychological blow if the driver had not been found guilty. I am not a regular on this forum, but I did want to post this and express my thanks to Clarion for his kindnesses on the day of the accident 2 years ago, and then supporting my case through to conclusion last week. A couple of years on from the accident, it’s time to turn the page to a new chapter now.