Sentancing differences?

[Jim Goose]

Two different states, but similier circumstances?

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/...elbourne-crash

Two drag racing Melbourne hoons who engaged in a show of bravado before a high speed crash that resulted in the death of a teenager have been jailed.

Damian Rodi and Jarrod Rooke spoke to each other at a set of lights before racing down Ferntree Gully Road in suburban Wheelers Hill in February 2007.

Rooke's turbo-charged Mitsubishi Lancer was travelling at between 114km/h and 126km/h in the 80km/h zone when it struck a taxi turning right.

A passenger in Rooke's car, 15-year-old Mitchell Cairnduff, was killed.

Two more of his passengers and a passenger in the taxi were seriously injured.

Jailing the pair on Friday, Victorian County Court Judge Rachelle Lewitan said the driving was dangerous and had far-reaching consequences.

"This is not a case of momentary or casual lapse of attention, but it involved competitive driving in a show of bravado," she said.

Judge Lewitan said the moral culpability of both men was high.

Rooke, 27, of Wheelers Hill, was jailed for four years and he must serve two years before being eligible for parole.

Rodi, of Rowville, was imprisoned for three years and three months with a non-parole period of 18 months.

The court heard Rodi, 21, had shown no remorse for the crash because he did not feel he was responsible for it.

Both men were found guilty by a jury of dangerous driving causing death and three counts of dangerous driving causing serious injury.

They were cleared of the more serious charge of culpable driving.

Outside court, Mitchell's father Brian Cairnduff said the sentence should send a message to drivers that if they kill someone they will go to jail.

"Society has had enough of hoon drivers," he told reporters.

"In four years and three years respectively (Rooke and Rodi) will get out and they will have to rebuild their lives where as we don't get that chance.

"No term would be long enough as far as I'm concerned."

Mitchell would have celebrated his 19th birthday next Tuesday.

As Rooke was led from the court dock by prison guards, Mitchell's mother Andrea spoke to him.

"I said I hope he is guilty for the rest of his life," she told reporters.

"We didn't know he was in the car. We dropped him off at 7.30 at a friend's house and he was dead two hours later.

"It is imperative that kids should tell their parents where they are, you think they are somewhere and they are not."

The other one involves two deaths:

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=1052608

Drug-affected driver Glenn Ewan Spark doesn't remember the crash that killed a Sydney mother and daughter.

But the shattered family of Christine Michelle Paterson and her daughter Christine Sarah, both of Sackville Reach, will never forget that day.

In sentencing 25-year-old Spark to at least 11 years and three months jail for the manslaughter of the two women, Judge Helen Syme on Friday said it was a "disaster waiting for a place to happen".

According to the agreed facts, Spark stole a high-powered sports car the night before the crash.

On the morning of September 6, 2008, Spark, who had not slept for two days and was withdrawing from methamphetamines, was pursued by police on Windsor Road, in northwestern Sydney, reaching high speeds.

Even after police stopped the chase, witnesses saw Spark going "flat out" before he collided head-on with the Patersons' car, killing the 39-year-old mother and her 18-year daughter instantly.

Having lost his wife and daughter, David Paterson said no jail sentence would be long enough for Spark.

"There's no such thing as closure. I've still got to go on. So does my son," Mr Paterson told reporters outside the NSW District Court in Sydney.

The judge said there was an element of premeditation in Spark's actions. He'd stolen and driven it several times in the hours leading up to the fatal crash.

"The ingestion of the drugs and the decision to take and drive a high-force car were all decisions made deliberately," Judge Syme said.

"He was, in effect, a person for whom a motor vehicle accident was almost inevitable."

The judge noted Spark, who was unlicensed and on parole after serving time for car theft, did not remember the police pursuit or the collision.

She took into consideration the victim impact statements given by the women's family.

"This family's existence has been completely shattered ... by the actions of the offender," she said.

Spark, who was supported by family members, remained composed as the judge sentenced him to a maximum term of 15 years.

Outside court, Valerie Doran sobbed and held a black and white photograph of her only daughter and eldest granddaughter.

"That's my beautiful girls and they've been taken away from me," she said.

Spark will be eligible for parole on January 9, 2020.

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Rooke, 27, of Wheelers Hill, was jailed for four years and he must serve two years before being eligible for parole.

Rodi, of Rowville, was imprisoned for three years and three months with a non-parole period of 18 months.

The court heard Rodi, 21, had shown no remorse for the crash because he did not feel he was responsible for it.

While in one case the woman killed two people while on a bender, 11yrs for the death of two people is getting there, but these two idiots from Melb, "he didnt feel responsible for it" ??? I mean this guy deserves to become the play thing in some jail cell. The puny sentence is a slap on the wrist.