Grieving family 'let down' as drink driver spared jail sentence

The family of a moped rider who died in a collision with a tipper truck say they've been let down by the criminal justice system.

20-year-old Steven Davidson was killed after being knocked down by the truck on a country lane near Exeter.

Steven's grieving family - who've had to wait 4 years for the case to come to court - branded the sentence disgraceful.

The Supreme Court ruled that the driver of the truck could not be held responsible for Steven's death and that there was no case to suggest that alcohol had played a part in the accident.

The driver of the truck was 28-year-old Royal Marine Jack Taylor. He'd taken the vehicle from a friend without permission and so was driving without insurance.

Taylor was still well over the drink drive limit when a blood sample was taken two hours after the fatal crash in June 2014. He had just texted a friend to say he was paralytic.

Taylor admitted taking a tipper truck without authority, drink driving, and having no insurance. He received a years driving ban and a £1500 fine.

Taylor was driving under the 30mph speed limit and collided with Steven's moped on a blind bend. Steven sustained fatal injuries after the strap on his helmet failed and he was dragged along the road under the truck.

Mr Adrian Chaplin, prosecuting, said:

Steven died in a collision on a corner where overgrown hedges reduced the visibility and allowed both driver and rider almost no reaction time.

The scooter's front tyre was under inflated and the strap on Steven's 15-year-old helmet failed.

Accident investigators estimated the truck's speed at 18 to 24 mph but calculated that both vehicles would have needed to be going slower than 14mph to give any chance of avoiding a collision.

The incident is considered to be a no fault accident.