Coventry grandad died in head-on crash caused by "impatient" driver

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Coventry grandad died in head-on crash caused by "impatient" driver

Postby dutchman » Wed Feb 07, 2018 1:44 pm

His family say the sentence is a "disgrace"

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A driver described by a witness as "impatient" caused the death of a grandad when he carelessly overtook in dangerous weather conditions.

Brian Wall, a 53-year-old from Coventry (pictured above), was driving a bright yellow Mercedes sprinter van for DHL when he collided with a white Ford transit van being driven by Michael Melvin, reports the Leicester Mercury .

And at a hearing at Leicester Crown Court on Monday, 24-year-old Melvin of Vicarage Close, Billesdon, was sentenced to 14 months in jail for causing Mr Wall's death by careless driving on November 21 2016.

Melvin was described by witnesses as being "impatient" before the crash at around 4pm on the A47 Uppingham Road near to the village of East Norton.

One driver said he saw the 24-year-old's van travelling behind him dipping in and out trying to overtake and having to come back in again to get out of the way of oncoming traffic.

Mr Wall had three children and had recently become a grandfather.

Before sentencing Melvin, Judge Richard Brown addressed the family of Mr Wall.

He said: "I hope the family and friends understand that what I have to do now is pass a sentence that is fair, just and reasonable.

"The sentence that I can pass will never match the value of a life, that is an obvious statement, but it needs to be said by me."

Judge Brown sentenced Melvin to 14 months imprisonment, telling him he will serve half of that in prison.

He also banned him from driving for three years and seven months from December 2017, and told him he will need to pass an extended driving test before driving again.

After the hearing, a family spokesman said they were not happy with the sentence given.

He said: "On behalf of the family, this sentence is a disgrace.

"That person took a person's life away. He was driving carelessly, and he should have taken care."

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