News and Politics | October 20, 2008 | 5 comments

Quad bike death father sentenced

source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/essex/7680117.stm

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Gary Cooke, 46, has been given a nine-month suspended prison sentence after the death of his seven year old daughter. Cooke is also banned from riding quad bikes on public road for two years.

His daughter, Elizabeth, was killed on Boxing Day last year when the quad bike she was on hit a Range Rover. Cooke was behind the wheel of another Range Rover while Elizabeth and her brother followed him on the bikes.

Cooke's lawyer said, "He clearly will never forgive himself for what has happened. He is already living a life sentence."

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5 comments // Quad bike death father sentenced

  • blanch
    • 0
      blanch  

    • tragic.
      he isn't doing jail time though - his sentence is suspended which means he will only go to jail if he commits another crime during that period.

    • 3 years ago
  • greenfly5
  • outtheinside
    • 0
      outtheinside  

    • what the f* is a quad bike? are there age requirement laws for riding them? i think it is sad to send this guy to jail. sure, he was negligent for putting her right on the street with a bike with a top-speed almost three times faster than anything she had ridden, but jail time for your daughter accidentally killing herself is crazy. like the defendant's attorney said, "he is already serving a life sentence"

      and what about the person who hit her with the range rover? if someone is coming at you head first do you keep going...

      just too many questions and variables.. i think jail time is ridiculous. although, i'm sure the father says "do to me what you will" as he feels he deserves whatever he gets..

      poor predicament.

    • 3 years ago
  • ClareW
    • 0
      ClareW  

    • I agree, it is quite a harsh sentence but the courts probably shouldn't create a precedent of preferential treatment because he's obviously suffering a lot of remorse.

    • 3 years ago
  • regjoeschmo
    • 0
      regjoeschmo  

    • wow, hard to have anopinion on this.... Sure he shouldnt have let a young child drive such a vehicle without making sure she could properly drive it, but jailtime??

      Sounds like hes taking the punishment however its dealt to him because what they can do is nothing to his own turmoil.

    • 3 years ago
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