A drunken driver who snapped a photo showing he was speeding at 141 mph before a deadly crash in England has been sentenced to 17 years in prison

Darryl Anderson was drunk behind the wheel of his Audi SUV, had his accelerator pressed to the floor and was barreling toward a car ahead of him when he snapped a photo of his speedometer. The picture showed a car in the foreground, a collision warning light on his dashboard and a speed of 141 mph (227 kph).

An instant later, he slammed into the car in the photo. The driver, Shalorna Warner, was not seriously injured but her 8-month-old son and her sister were killed instantly, authorities said. Evidence showed Anderson never braked.

Anderson, 38, was sentenced Tuesday to 17 years in prison for the May 31 crash in northern England that killed little Zackary Blades and Karlene Warner. Anderson pleaded guilty last week in Durham Crown Court to two counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

    • TheHarpyEagle@lemmy.worldEnglish
      155·
      5 months ago

      I get it, but also when I think about if that happened to my sister, let alone my child, no amount of time would be enough. 2 years for ripping two people out of your life feels like a pittance. How do you separate the emotion from the practicality?

        • madcaesar@lemmy.worldEnglish
          31·
          5 months ago

          Not vengeance but justice. 2 years in prison then off you go is not justice. Now two years and 15 years paying support to the family you have wronged can be justice.

          But just two years till you’re good is not how it’s supposed to work. There needs to be consequences otherwise there is no difference between somone going into rehab voluntarily for two years and somone killing two people and then being forced to go to rehab.

        • TheHarpyEagle@lemmy.worldEnglish
          33·
          5 months ago

          How do you know when a person is reformed versus playing the part to get out earlier? Is there a risk of the system being abused by those who commit a crime knowing that they can get out in a couple years’ time?

          If you can’t even think of forgiving this hypothetical transgression you’ve come up with, how can you ever hope to have a positive influence on this world that might actually protect others from the kind of tragedy you’ve described?

          I’m sorry but I’m not sure I see the connection here. How does forgiveness prevent such tragedies?

        • hornedfiend@sopuli.xyzEnglish
          929·
          5 months ago

          Imagine having your children killed - probably hard if you don’t have children and the reading your comment.

          I anything ,the justice system should be more punishing for such cases. How can you even mention forgiveness for drunk driving,showing off,killing people and then asking for it with such a worryingly easiness?

          Forgiveness for what,for being a blatant sociopath? Really? If I were that lady I would have preferred enjoying the rest of my life with my children as opposed to forgiving a murderer and knowing he might do it again,cause it’s easy to forgive and “Forgiveness is a powerful thing”. This is not a case for forgiveness,but harsher punishment.

          Again: you’re asking for forgiveness for a drunk driving murderer of people and children.

            • hornedfiend@sopuli.xyzEnglish
              36·
              5 months ago

              No,not death sentence,but i noticed people here are worryingly apologetic for murder. It is murder,not in the 1st degree off,but still murder.

              25 years with no parole and that’s that. I’m sorry,I just can’t find excuses for drunk driving murders like some people do. It’s my belief system,not a standard.

              • Sylvartas@lemmy.worldEnglish
                51·
                5 months ago

                Some people are just that irresponsible. Also the human brain is notoriously bad at risk assessment, so some people truly don’t realize how likely they are to cause suffering and death when they do shit like this. Harsh punishments won’t change that because this guy probably didn’t think he was gonna accidentally murder 2 people that night

                • theluckyone@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  6·
                  5 months ago

                  This was no accident.

                  He drove while drunk. He made a decision to become impaired. While impaired, he decided to get behind the wheel of a vehicle. He made a decision to drive unreasonably fast, beyond the speed limit and beyond his ability to safely operate the vehicle. He further made a decision to take a photo while operating his vehicle.

                  All were his choice to make, and thus the repercussions of his choices were no accident.

                  Does society want a person inclined to make such decisions roaming about freely? How many years of incarceration are likely to eliminate his continuation of such behavior?

                  • Sylvartas@lemmy.worldEnglish
                    22·
                    5 months ago

                    I’m not saying that 17 years behind bars is too much here, I’m saying it’s definitely not too little. Unless it can be proven that this idiot actually thought he was likely to get in an accident by acting the way he did

                • hornedfiend@sopuli.xyzEnglish
                  12·
                  5 months ago

                  Right,let’s release all murderers on purely the fact they didn’t think they were going to kill someone. Jeez and I thought Lemmy would be a better place…