Road safety experts have branded the magistrates' decision to allow Sajid Hussain to walk free "a disgrace".
Hussain, 20, was given an 18-month custodial sentence for dangerous driving in September 2003 after hitting lollipop lady Audrey Chadwick while racing a car along a busy street. She was left with a broken jaw, cheekbone, forearm and pelvis.
At that time he had already been banned for two years after admitting motoring offences.
Hussain was 16 when he left five-year-old Daniel Hennessy paralysed from the waist down after a hit-and-run crash. He was convicted of failing to stop and driving without insurance or a licence.
He was hauled before the courts again after being spotted by police as he drove a VW Golf in Rochdale on April 11 this year.
Hussain, who was disqualified from driving following the previous smashes, did not stop for the officers.
He sped off, mounting the pavement and crashing into a stationary car and a street sign in John Street. He then jumped out and ran off. Police caught up with him shortly afterwards. But Rochdale magistrates gave him a four-month suspended sentence, which means he will not have to go to jail unless he breaks the law again in the next 12 months.
He was again disqualified for another three years and ordered to do an 18-month community service order after pleading guilty to driving while disqualified, failing to stop after an accident and driving without insurance.
A spokesman for campaign group Brake said: "He quite clearly hasn't learned his lesson, despite already injuring a woman and a young boy who is now facing a life sentence of his own because he has been left paralysed.
"It is a disgrace. He should be serving a custodial sentence and a lifetime driving ban.
"We can't be surprised if in a few months he is involved in another crash. I wouldn't want to be walking the streets of Rochdale. Something needs to be done to deter these drivers."
At the hearing relating to the first two crashes Hussain, of Stamford Street, Rochdale, was not allowed to be named because he was under 18.
The order protecting him from identification was overturned in 2003 after an application by the Manchester Evening News.
Comment: Page 8
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Welcome to British justice
Lock him away for a very long time
When I saw the headline "Anger as road menace avoids jail" I thought that's not a supprise, they usually let traffic police get away with anything.
When there is so much public outcry,Make the courts resonsible for any crimes that that person commits within the first year .Our legal system is to soft we need to stop these people reoffending .lifetime driving bans with a large prison sentence if they break the rules again ..Easy
If you want to get away with murdering someone, run them over! You will get off with it.
Well he can't be jailed can he !!
The prisons are full and the Government has issued an edict to Magistrates not to jail people unless really really really necessary.
This menace deserves to be jailed and would have been for the same matters ten years ago!
the comment by Jake Long is crass and pathetic. This is a story of a menace who should be removed from our roads for a very long time. Would jake have been so flippant if it was a member of his family injured by this criminal?. I think he would have been calling on the services of the police rather than having an unnecessary pop at them.
I give up with this justice system !!
Its so depressing !! I think I might emigrate and leave these idiots to ruin our already sinking country !!!
disgusting, disgusting,
disgusting
lock him up
Jails too good for him anyway. Give the big man 5 minutes alone with the little lads mum and dad, that should do the trick.
WTF is wrong with the law ?! This is a disgrace, of the worst type, he was already banned, and now he's still out of jail ! No wonder the laws is no longer working. Its just madness. Grrrrrr :o(
Katie, it's more like: If you want a quick conviction without the burden of proof being set at a reasonable level, go after a driver.
The moral of the story is that you can run someone over or kill them and get off with it.Just don't steal money or you will be sent to prison
Jake Longs comments are truly pitiful in this case.
This thing (He doesn't have the right to be called human) should be locked away for a very long time, this is just another example of the spineless attitude of the judiciary who are totally out of touch with what's happening around them!
It's time that juries were not only asked to decide "guilty or not" but also to be able to decide the punishment, what the hell is wrong with these judges??
honesty and living by the rules gets you know where in this country anymore, criminals and dishonest people seem to get better thought of and its getting worse everyday, should just lock them up and throw away the key, don't care what age, with life meaning life.
Doesn't surprise me I live in Rochdale, and this is quite "normal" around here, usually drive round in 3/4 somehow the Police never see them!!!!!!!!!!!
as a jp they made the wrong desicion they should have sent it to the crown for a higher sentence.
Make him do community service with the ambulance or fire crews, then he can be on hand to see the consequences of actions like his.
Otherwise, release the pensioners from jails, who refuse to pay their poll tax etc., and there will be room for the scumbags like him causing havoc. Name and shame them all, don't let them hide anywhere.
Typical, why am I even surprised. Once again the justice system has failed. People commit crimes nowadays because they know thay can get away with it. I agree with Jack, Manc, put IT (not human in my eyes) in a room with the childs parents, lets see how much of a big man he is then. If I was his mother I'd be ashamed to call him my son. When are we going to learn that letting the scum of the earth walk free doesnt do anyone any good.
The more I read stuff like this, the more I find the justice system in this country totally unfair, it seems people get off lightly for killing or maiming people while driving dangerously while people get more grief and punishment for parking illegally these days. When will people realise that a car in the wrong hands is effectively as dangerous as any other weapon out there on the streets. If he'd have run a dog over he probably would have been given a custodial sentence. How can this continued lack of punishment deter people from thinking twice about driving dangerously or illegally? Maybe his punishment should be caring for victims of road accidents who can no longer care for themselves!
This driver, after what he's done to that little lad, should be locked up for a long, long time. The magistrate who sentenced him, should be struck off.
rob, manchester: The only thing that I would call traffic police cannot be repeated on a forum like this. As for this particular case - It should never have been dealt with by magistrates in the first place. If Magna Carta 1215 had been adheared to then magistrates would not exist at all and all trials would be by jury. I cannot and will not make a decision on a case without knowing the circumstances and I will not condem a man based purely on the basis of one sensationalist story in a newspaper that does not know all of the facts any better than I do.
This is another family destroyed
How many more before the courts wake UP
Now its easier to kill someone with a car and get off with it than using a gun
But the end result is stll the same
Dear Sir,
It is time for england to get their act together. I am a white man married to a black woman. Believe me discrimination or racism does not exist, only jealousy.
It seems that asian people get away with murder in your country. This is not the only incident that I am reading about in allmighty england.
For less they will hang you in Asia! Lets go to England, the police can't and dear not to do anything.
As a travelling kind of person (jobwise) I see that England is loosing it. BNP might become strong and that is not a good sign.
England, good luck but I have no faith or what so ever for now.....
Exactly what kind of message are the courts trying to send out, and why was this case heard in the magistrates court anyway. Maybe if or when this loser offends again and someone is killed it will be treated a little bit more seriously. I assume that the people affected by his previous actions will not receive compensation from this low life as hes likely to remain on benefits and hand outs for the rest of his life.