THE judges who threw out death driver Arnie Rogers’ bid to have his driving ban shortened have done us all a favour.
Rogers had been drinking before running a red light and smashing into another car, killing Paul Winters and leaving his father with dreadful injuries.
Any normal, decent human being, confronted with having done such a thing, would be overwhelmed by shame and self-loathing.
The killer is clearly not a normal or decent human being, and the first words from his mouth when confronted by the police bear repeating because of their sheer callousness: “That’s £9,000 down the drain, then.”
Jailed for six years and eight months, he will be free after serving less than three-and-a-half years.
In spite of the grotesque lightness of his punishment, the killer evidently feels hard done by, whining through his legal representatives that his 10-year-driving ban will cause him inconvenience in his work in the motor trade once he is released.
We wonder how the inconvenience suffered by this impertinent, self-pitying wretch compares to the inconvenience of losing a loved one or suffering horrific, life-changing injuries because of a stranger’s stupidity and monumental selfishness.
There are certain countries whose legal systems are far more sympathetic to the plight of victims and far less to the welfare of criminals.
Had Rogers lived in such a country, he might not expect to be released for decades, if at all. Such a fate would be no more than he deserves, as he clearly has no conception of the sheer awfulness of his actions.
As things stand, we would prefer him to stop whining and making a fuss, and resolve to serve the rest of his sentence and the entirety of his driving ban quietly.
We are sick of the sight and sound of him.
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