R v Sloan

COURT OF APPEAL

MACDERMOTT AND MCCOLLUM LJJ9 JANUARY, 13 FEBRUARY 1998

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Road traffic – Dangerous driving – Causing death or grievous bodily harm by

dangerous driving – Sentence – Principles of sentencing – Circumstances aggravating

offence – Circumstances mitigating offence – Length of appropriate custodial sentence –

Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1995, SI 1995/2994, art 9.

On 24 August 1996, S crashed a vehicle which he had been driving at speeds

between 85 and 90 mph on a stretch of road subject to a 30 mph limit. He had

consumed alcohol and had continued to drive at excessive speeds despite requests

from his passengers to slow down. S's car struck four other cars in the collision in

which his passengers sustained injuries, particularly S's best friend who sustained

severe injuries. A police officer who attended the scene detected a strong smell of

intoxicating liquor on S's breath. S, however, refused to provide a specimen. At the

time of the accident S was under a suspended sentence of three months'

imprisonment which had been imposed on 12 October 1995 for reckless driving and

was disqualified from driving for a period of two years for the