Michael Reddington was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment which was discounted from 10 years on account of his guilty plea for culpable and reckless driving. Although he did argue that the sentence was excessive due to the character of the offence and a lifetime ban would prevent him from gaining employment. This is due to the fact that he is a plumber so this would impact any future employment.
The accused drove his car into the home of complainers MB and KB who lived there with three children. Reddington drove into their garage while the complainers were sleeping.
CCTV footage displayed the car been driven at speed into the garage. A male figure had then gotten out the car and poured petrol into it before using a lighter to cause the explosion. The accused then ran away and the next day made a comment which was a clear admission of his guilty.
The lifetime driving ban was addressed and argued that it would significantly impact the accused ability to get a job and hinder his rehabilitation on his resale. However, there was no evidence to suggest that he would impose a danger to the public through the use of a car.
Lord Boyd said “The appellant has three rather old convictions for breaches of section 143(1) and (2) of the Road Traffic Act 1988, one of which resulted in a disqualification of 6 months. While relevant, the main consideration is the fact that a motor vehicle was used in the commission of the offence.”
Therefore, he concluded that a long period of disqualification is merited although the offence is serious the case of disqualification was excessive. As a result of this the appeal was allowed resulting in a 15-year disqualification rather than a lifetime ban.