Racer who nearly killed teen escapes jail (From The Argus)
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Racer who nearly killed teen escapes jail
8:25am Tuesday 22nd January 2013 in News By Anna Roberts, Crime reporter
A driver who raced against another motorist – nearly killing an innocent teenage girl – has been banned from the road.
Sam Leech escaped jail after a court was told he raced his blue Rover car east on the B2131 in Linchmere, near Chichester, on at 5.30pm on April 16, 2011.
He overtook another car on the brow of a hill colliding with an oncoming car driven by a 17-year-old girl from Linchmere.
Both Leech and the girl were taken to hospital with minor injuries. The driver of the vehicle he was racing against has never been traced.
Leech, 30, of Petworth Road, Haslemere, Surrey, denied dangerous driving but was convicted at Chichester Crown Court earlier this month.
He received a suspended 12-month prison sentence and was banned from driving for two years. He was also ordered to do 200 hours unpaid work and pay £500 towards prosecution costs.
PC Steve Butcher said: "This was very nearly a fatal crash, where the defendant made the decision to race another car despite the obvious dangers to himself and other road users.”
Comments(7)
made up
says...
8:57am Tue 22 Jan 13
Crystal Ball
says...
9:46am Tue 22 Jan 13
paulbton
says...
12:06pm Tue 22 Jan 13
Mr_Tom
says...
12:27pm Tue 22 Jan 13
'both Leech and the girl were taken to hospital with minor injuries'
mimseycal
says...
3:42pm Tue 22 Jan 13
Roundbill
says...
4:28pm Tue 22 Jan 13
paulbton wrote:Are you kidding? We've already seen how he handles a car - would you really want to allow this eejit to be responsible for wheeling fragile patients around hospital corridors?
he should do his unpaid work as a porter in A&E if sees what happens when prats like him race and crash he might think twice.
roebtn says...
8:36am Tue 22 Jan 13