53-year-old Jonathan Easlea, who crashed his Ford Transit van into the wall of a residential house in Apse Heath before fleeing the scene, has kept his licence after appearing at the Isle of Wight’s Magistrates’ Court yesterday (Tuesday).
Easlea previously pleaded guilty to failing to report an accident and driving without due care and attention when he appeared at the Magistrates’ Court last month.
As previously reported by Island Echo, emergency services were alerted to reports that a vehicle – a Transit tipper van – had left the road and collided with a Ford Fiesta and a brick wall at around 21:30 on 31st March.
Officers from Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary attended the scene but the driver – Easlea – was no longer present and made no attempts to exchange details with any of the parties involved.
A few days later, on 5th April, Easlea was contacted by Police and called in for an interview the following day. It was here that he admitted to being the driver of the vehicle. Easlea only made an attempt to contact the home and vehicle owners after he was contacted by officers from Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary.
Defending, Amy Hosell said that her client had ‘simply panicked’ and that there was a lot going on in his life. At the time of the accident his mother was in hospital with pneumonia and he was her primary carer.
Outlining the impact that losing his licence would have on Easlea, the court heard how, in addition to using the vehicle for his work as a general builder, he also used it to take his son to school 4 days a week and also to do the shopping for his mother. He had no previous penalty points on his licence.
Easlea was given an 18-month community order with 35 rehabilitation days and ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work.
He was also given 9 points on his licence and ordered to pay costs of £85 and a surcharge of £114.
Another joke, what is happening on the Island.
What a joke! Ban the loser! Obviously drunk at the time and that’s why he left it few days before handing himself in then playing the sad story’s! If that was a 20/30 year old nipper they would have thrown the book at him or her!
Disgusting from the courts!
He must have connections with the right people.
It’s an who you know Island
Maybe you’re “obviously drunk”.
“Obviously drunk”? Can you prove that – courts rely on facts, if you can’t prove it then it didn’t happen.
There must be benefits of being in the dodgy handshake club!
The easlies are well known !!
Such inconsistencies from our Court, others get banned from speeding on Millie Road (while 100s speed there every day) yet crash into others, damage property,cause alarm and distress to public and others and flee scene of what could of seen a fatality and don’t loose licence!. Clearly knew he was under influence of something or would of called police himself.
That sentence needs reviewing. He should have been banned. It’s always the wrong-un’s that get away with it.
I agree, it should be “would have”, not “would of”.
A 19yo boy who was riding a scooter after a beer has been banned for 12 months. He didn’t crash with his 10kg vehicle or anything.
Here guy drivers a 200x more heavy vehicle, actually crashes it and then flees the scene… and doesn’t get a ban because…
1. “Boo hoo, I use it for work” – great, so as a professional we should expect way better behaviour from you than normal drivers perhaps?
2. “That’s how he takes kids to school and makes shopping” – lolololol, great, let’s allow all dangerous drivers on the roads just because we are car-dependent, I’m sure such people driving around will help the of safety those who walk kids to school without a car.
Ffs, motonormativity at its best. Justice system is a joke.
There is No Law and Order on the Island
Such outcomes prove that.
He must have relations in the right places, what a joke.
The Island rules are so different to the mainland
THIS IDIOT WOULD HAVE GOT REAL DISCIPLINE IN A MAINLAND COURT
NOT A KINDERGARTEN COURT ON FUNNY ISLE!
Isle of wight clown courts strike again.
Are social services involved? How do we know he didn’t have his kids in car when it happened? If I were their mother I wouldn’t let him near them without supervision…
If the driver is a builder, why wasn’t he made to repair the damage he did to the wall ?