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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Texting youth detained over death | Texting youth detained over death |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| A teenager who killed a milkman in a hit-and-run crash while sending a text message has been sentenced to four years in a young offenders' centre. | A teenager who killed a milkman in a hit-and-run crash while sending a text message has been sentenced to four years in a young offenders' centre. |
| Christopher Losper was found by a passer-by near his float in West Moors, Dorset, on 26 August 2006, his 60th birthday, and died of head injuries. | Christopher Losper was found by a passer-by near his float in West Moors, Dorset, on 26 August 2006, his 60th birthday, and died of head injuries. |
| Tony Revell, 18, from Verwood, admitted at Bournemouth Crown Court death by dangerous driving and failing to stop. | Tony Revell, 18, from Verwood, admitted at Bournemouth Crown Court death by dangerous driving and failing to stop. |
| On Wednesday, Revell was detained for four years. | On Wednesday, Revell was detained for four years. |
| Revell had been on a night out and was sending a text message when he crashed. | Revell had been on a night out and was sending a text message when he crashed. |
| He dropped off some friends at their home in Ferndown and was driving, with a passenger, in tandem with another Nissan Bluebird to a house in Three Legged Cross. | He dropped off some friends at their home in Ferndown and was driving, with a passenger, in tandem with another Nissan Bluebird to a house in Three Legged Cross. |
| Your culpability is high as you were distracted by the mobile telephone Judge Samuel Wiggs | Your culpability is high as you were distracted by the mobile telephone Judge Samuel Wiggs |
| Mr Losper, who was originally from Africa but had lived in Bournemouth for 20 years, was carrying out his round in Station Road in the early hours when he was hit. | Mr Losper, who was originally from Africa but had lived in Bournemouth for 20 years, was carrying out his round in Station Road in the early hours when he was hit. |
| He was thrown into the air and smashed the windscreen of Revell's Nissan Bluebird before being dragged along the road, the court heard. | He was thrown into the air and smashed the windscreen of Revell's Nissan Bluebird before being dragged along the road, the court heard. |
| A lorry driver and a postman found the milkman in the gutter in West Moors near Ferndown. | A lorry driver and a postman found the milkman in the gutter in West Moors near Ferndown. |
| Paramedics could not save the divorced father-of-two, who died at the scene. | Paramedics could not save the divorced father-of-two, who died at the scene. |
| Judge Samuel Wiggs told Revell, who worked at his father's demolition company, that he would serve half the sentence before being released on licence. | |
| 'Dangerous enterprise' | 'Dangerous enterprise' |
| He also banned him from driving for five years. | He also banned him from driving for five years. |
| Judge Wiggs said: "It is difficult to think of a more dangerous enterprise when driving a car than to use a mobile phone not only to receive but to send text messages. | Judge Wiggs said: "It is difficult to think of a more dangerous enterprise when driving a car than to use a mobile phone not only to receive but to send text messages. |
| "I know that many young people, and I expect you are one of them, are able to use telephones and to send text messages very easily without looking at every letter but the distraction from driving and the inevitable looking at the screen is exceptionally dangerous. | "I know that many young people, and I expect you are one of them, are able to use telephones and to send text messages very easily without looking at every letter but the distraction from driving and the inevitable looking at the screen is exceptionally dangerous. |
| "Your culpability is high as you were distracted by the mobile telephone, which you very fortunately told police. | "Your culpability is high as you were distracted by the mobile telephone, which you very fortunately told police. |
| "It is difficult to imagine sufficiently the sense of shock and loss which his (MR Losper's) family and friends have suffered." | "It is difficult to imagine sufficiently the sense of shock and loss which his (MR Losper's) family and friends have suffered." |
| Judge Wiggs also criticised Revell for driving off with two punctured tyres following the crash and the fact that he did not call an ambulance. | Judge Wiggs also criticised Revell for driving off with two punctured tyres following the crash and the fact that he did not call an ambulance. |