Death crash motorist escapes with £500 fine

A driver who killed a teenager has walked free from court with just six points on his licence and a £500 fine.

Student Michael Drewer, 17, suffered fatal internal injuries after he was thrown from his motorbike.

Philip Howe, 30, was found guilty of careless driving after admitting he lost concentration and failed to check the road was clear before turning right, pulling directly into the path of the teenager's oncoming motorbike.

Today Michael's mother described the sentence as an "insult" and called for tougher penalties for motorists involved in fatal accidents.

"Everyone who drives has a potential lethal weapon at their disposal," said Maria Drewer. "Michael didn't stand a chance. A £500 fine is not justice; it's an insult. I don't want him to go to jail - I just wanted the law to take his licence away. He took Michael away.

"This poor man didn't mean to do it but he still killed my son and the law doesn't take into consideration that someone died."

Sutton Magistrates Court heard that Howe, of Overton Road, Sutton, had been travelling down Stonecot Hill in North Cheam when the accident happened last February. Michael was thrown headfirst into Howe's passenger side window by the force of the impact, before landing in the road. He was taken to St Helier Hospital for surgery, but died in the early hours of the following day.

"He says he didn't see my son at all but the magistrates said 'we fail to see how you couldn't see him'. It was dark but it was a well-lit stretch of the A24," pointed out Mrs Drewer.

She is now writing to her local MPs, asking them to raise the issue in Parliament. At the moment the maximum penalty for careless driving is a £1,000 fine and discretionary points. Mrs Drewer wants a new careless driving charge to be created with a sentence that acknowledges loss of life.

Michael lived just round the corner with his older brother, James, and their father. Mrs Drewer said his death had devastated the family. A Home Office spokesman said a review was already under way into cases of bad driving causing serious injury and death.