31-year-old Ben Entwistle, a disqualified driver who was involved in a crash that almost killed a young mum on Briddlesford Road in June, has been sent to prison for just 22 weeks.
Entwistle, of Westlake Avenue in Lake, appeared before Magistrates in Newport today (Monday) and pleaded guilty to a total of 8 charges – driving whilst disqualified x3, failing to stop at the scene of an accident, failing to report an accident and driving without insurance x3.
It has been confirmed that a previous charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving had been discontinued as Entwistle was not to blame for the crash.
Although his driving was not to blame, Entwistle should never have been behind the wheel of the car having been banned from driving on a more than one occasion. The court heard how Entwistle has 10 previous convictions for driving whilst disqualified.
The Isle of Wight Magistrates Court heard how earlier in the day, just hours before the serious crash, Entwistle was seen driving in an erratic manner in the West Wight, almost hitting a pedestrian. The court also heard that Entwistle had been seen driving a vehicle at speed in the days prior to the almost fatal crash.
Some of the charges admitted relate to the well-known offender fleeing the scene of the accident, resulting in a nationwide search which led to Entwistle’s arrest in Manchester almost 2 weeks after the crash on 27th June.
Entwistle’s solicitor told the court that his client has deep remorse for making off from the scene.
Magistrates handed down a 22-week prison sentence and a 5-year driving ban to Benjamin Entwistle, as well as ordering him to pay £85 in court costs with a surcharge of £115. Although Entwistle has received a 22-week custodial sentence, he is already in prison for breaching a previous suspended sentence.
Is that it 22 weeks? Disgusting! That poor girl! Speechless….
The accident wasn’t his fault. 22 weeks is for driving whilst disqualified and not stopping at the accident. The fact he has 10 previous convictions for the same offence shows how impossible it is to stop those determined to drive irrespective of legal entitlement. He will most likely be out by Christmas.
It is his fault ! Banned means no driving , he shouldn’t have even been on the road which means he is to blame due to the fact he shouldn’t have been there ,which would result in no crash !
Absolutely disgusting verdict ,shameful decision
This man has been charged with offences that can ONLY be dealt with in the Magistrates Court. Their maximum sentence is 26 weeks so 22 weeks is not that far from that maximum. Credit for a guilty plea – usually one third discount is applied. So please don’t berate our Magistrates – they are governed by fairly stringent guidelines.
Unless Magistrates are given greater custodial sentencing powers, it will always be perceived that they are too lenient.
22 weeks is a joke on it’s own without all the other convictions he has basically the scum bag has gotten away with it and 22 weeks free dinners .
Disgraceful
I despair of British justice! Surely, the magistrate had a harsher penalty in his ‘armoury’ that could and should have been invoked. And the financial penalties are derisory ……….
The judge who came to that decision should be forced to resign absolutely disgusting totally out of touch with reality
It was a Magistrate and not a Judge! Unless Magistrates are given greater custodial sentencing powers, it will always be perceived that they are too lenient.
He can’t hand down more than 2 years by law
That’s in the Youth Court Foggy. This individual is an Adult so the maximum on this occasion is 26 weeks
What’s the point in extending the ban – clearly hasn’t stopped him before..
I’m disgusted by the sentencing.
22 weeks…unbelievable..Becky has a life sentence
If the accident wasn’t Entwistle’s fault, who’s was it? Becky’s?
Shame on you Judge, what a shocking decision. I hope none of your family have to endure what Becky and her family are going through. Entwistle does not care a damn for his actions . Hope he gets hounded off the Island when he comes out of his nice comfy hotel room in HMP
It was a Magistrate and not a Judge! Unless Magistrates are given greater custodial sentencing powers, it will always be perceived that they are too lenient.
If a magistrate feels that they are not empowered to issue a sufficient sentence, they are entitled to send it up to Crown Court for sentencing. So yes, I do put some blame on the magistrate.
Driving whilst disqualified, failing to stop after an accident and no insurance are summarily only offences. The only time as far as I’m aware a Crown Court is involved is when an offence is committed whilst on a suspend sentence dished out by a Crown Court.
They have an option to refer to Crown court which could then impose a sentence worthy of the crime. Why was Crown court not considered?? An appalling decision by local magistrates!!
Mark…whoever the person sitting on the bench was, should have made sure that the punishment fitted the crime. If they thought their hands were tied, then they should have passed it on to a higher level. … Pathetic…..
Deep remorse?? Right..!!!! 5 year driving ban also that’s going to work..!!! Absolutely disgusted in the judiciary when she nearly lost her life… Just shows how we value life as he probably would have got more for stealing a Mars bar..
Her nearly losing her life was not his fault.
Albert! Give it a rest! You have made your point more than once..
People’s appalling grasp of the facts leads me to the conclusion that most commenting on this article have a very tenuous grasp on reality.
The system is a pure joke,what that young girl as gone through will take more than 22 wks for her to recover 100%, that’s if she ever does.
How many weeks is Becky and or family going to have to endure until she recovers . If she even does recover fully justice? JOKE!
Undesirable as this persons actions are, the fact remains the accident wasn’t his fault. All the people on here berating him for Becky’s plight and wishing I’ll on him need to look elsewhere for blame. The custodial sentence would have been far harsher had he committed and been found guilty of causing injury by dangerous driving. Still, 22 weeks for a serial “I don’t give a stuff about not having a licence to drive” offender is meaningless.
So the fact that he shouldn’t have been on the road means nothing? As far as I’m aware if he wasn’t on the road like he wasn’t meant to be the accident probably wouldn’t have happened.
Given his track record, I would have thought the magistrates would have passed it up to crown court where they have powers of longer terms in prison.Hopefully, he will have to serve his recall first before the 22 weeks is started. That is probably the case, otherwise he would have been released by now as he will only have to serve 11 weeks… Maximum sentence for a second conviction of disqual driving is 2 years.Maybe next time…. It pains me to say this but CP not continuing with ‘serious injury by dangerous driving’ tells me that the crash was not entirely his fault….
I wish Becky all the best and hope she has a full recovery.
What a f******** joke!!!!!!
“The accident was not his fault”. What about the fact that had he not been driving that car illegally, the accident wouldn’t have happened? Can’t blame the judge. His hands are tied by the judicial system. I bet, like most law-abiding folk, he would have liked to lock him up and throw away the key as well. People like him are always going to reoffend. They have no moral compass and no conscience. I wonder how he would feel if he was on the receiving end of horrific injuries by another worthless scumbag like himself. I really hope Becky makes a full recovery. Best wishes to her and her family
He shouldn’t have been driving in the first place so I would say the accident was his fault. If he wasn’t driving the accident wouldn’t have happened.
Does anyone wanna start a petition to sack the existing “judges” and replace them with ones that aren’t about as useless as a chocolate kettle?
@dan – instead of expecting others to start a petition- why don’t you do it.
They say the accident wasn’t his fault as his driving wasn’t to blame – Well his driving was to blame. The very fact that he was driving when he should not have been is where the blame lies. Cause and effect.
Had he not been driving, then the reason for the crash, which is clearly being laid at the injured womans doorstep, whilst not actually being said, would not have existed. She would have merrily driven along having safely recovered from any driving error that they are laying at her doorstep without issue.
He caused the effect of this by driving and should have been charged with causing life changing injuries to her due to ignoring all previous warnings and being somewhere where he shouldn’t have been, doing something he shouldn’t have been doing.
He was in the wrong place, at the wrong time and caused an innocent driver who was legally permitted to be where she was and doing what she was legally permitted to do, to suffer significant injuries as a result, I irrespective of her driving.
Had he been legally compliant to drive, this would have been a tragic accident and we would have had sympathy for him.
The clown will be out in 11 weeks and I recommend he f***s off somewhere else, as he isn’t welcome here.
He should be serving a parallel sentence with Becky. The total length of time it takes her to be back on her feet and being a mum again to her daughter, is the minimum he should serve and then double it.
another aspect to his punishment should also be that, when he is eventually released from Prison, the state will take a fixed amount from his benefits, or place an attachment of earnings order on any wages he gets to compensate her for loss of earnings and the suffering. The state would then transfer this payment to Becky independently so as to ensure he has no contact with her.
Why should the taxpayers shoulder the expense of making sure Becky is covered, whilst he pays f^^k all.
Mmmmmm – it seems you struggle with reading this article. No Judge was involved. It was in the the Magistrates Court. Magistrates are volunteers and finally why don’t you start this petition instead of asking other people to do your work!
Should have had a lifetime ban!! Obviously has no respect for the laws in many ways IR the people around him. Hell be back behind the wheel soon as released.. One day causing a fatality! Then let’s see just how much remorse he has!
Thats bloody disgusting only gething 22 weeks. That poor girl
So my prediction at the time of the crash as been proved correct. I suppose it will not be long before he is behind the wheel again. He couldn’t give a toss.
he will be back in the news again in the new year for the same offence
One word…JOKE!!!!
That’s a booody shocker! And only £85 fine. Should be years not weeks.. How disappointing yet another soft sentence.
Also if he had stopped and helped and contacted emergency services maybe her injuries might not have been as bad.
Throw the key away and keep the muppet behind bars!!!!!
If I ever come across the bloke I hope he can run!!
For his sake
Absolutely disgusting!!
Shame on the judge!!
He will be out in 11 weeks justice is a joke
Absolutely despicable and discusting and unbelievable this is not justice for that poor girl and her family. The scumbag is probably sit in prison boasting. Regardless of the blame he should never of been behind the wheel full stop no licence no insurance driving a high powered car like a complete lunatic.he was the big hard man doing all that but in reality he’s just a whimp with no morals and no conscience of the aftermath he couldn’t even hang around and face up to the aftermath or stay to help no he ran away to mancherster like a big baby leaving that poor girl and her family and emergency services to help. Once he’s out he will probably drive again not giving a s**t about anyone. He should be banged up for a long long time.
When a persistent offender is left unchallenged to do as he pleases in a such a bare faced manner it illustrates how much regard he has for the law. 22 weeks is a pathetic deterrent to him and to others. Its also a massive blow to the family of the injured lady. Lets hope that the prison showers provide some uncomfortable punishment.
This is bloody disgusting that poor lady and her family
This is bloody disgusting
That poor lady
absolutely disgusting!!
Erattic
Do these courts really think this twat is not going to drive when ban as that this just what he done. Lock him up for a long time and make him pay for the any lose of wages etc of the lady that was injured.
Joshua Johnson just got two and a half years don’t seem to be a lot of difference between cases except length of sentance.WHY. Make your own mind up.Justice LOL .How does it work.
This whole sorry episode demonstrates the problem of commenting prior to being in possession of the full facts.
Whilst agreeing with the various comments that the guy should not have been on the road, many of us it seems, including myself, initially came to the apparently incorrect conclusion that he was entirely responsible for the collision. The fact that the prosecution has come to the conclusion that his actual driving was not the cause of the collision, leads to the conclusion that there can only be two alternative explanations. Namely that either 1. both parties were not to blame or alternatively 2. the lady driver’s actions were to blame. If the latter is the case then there is no moral justification for pursuing the guy for damages and, if he had been insured, then his insurers would almost certainly not have accepted liability in light of the conclusions drawn by the authorities. Would our reactions have been different had there been some totally legal driver involved rather than that guy and the lady’s actions had resulted in serious injuries to people in that vehicle as well as her own? I rather think so.
So without access to further valid information we don’t actually know if the unfortunate lady was in fact the author of her own misfortune. That, of course, does not detract from feeling great sympathy for her situation.
Don’t get me wrong, I do agree that the guy’s punishment seems woefully short of what should have been, especially as previous punishments seem to have had no deterrent effect.