ANY death in an accident, particularly that of a child, is sad and emotional. Emotions, however, should not be allowed to cloud the facts of a case. In your reports of December 10 and December 15, it was plainly stated that Amy Houston "had to be freed by firefighters from underneath a car after running into the road."
It could have been any driver in any car on the road at that time. As it happened, it was Mr Ibrahim. Yes, he should have stayed at the scene but he panicked. Given that he is of Kurdish descent from Saddam's Iraq, has exhausted his appeal options to remain in this country and was banned from driving, his experience of law enforcement agencies could reasonably account for the panic.
After calming down though, he did go to a police station and admitted everything. There was no evidence of dangerous driving.
The reports did not elaborate on why he was disqualified from driving. It may be that he is a competent driver but has no driving licence valid in the UK. His crimes were driving while disqualified and without insurance and failing to stop after an accident, for which he was duly tried, he pleaded guilty and he was sentenced according to current law.
He, too, will have to live with the memory of that accident. Why should he be punished more because he was involved in an accident, not of his making, but which had a tragic outcome? That would not be fair punishment but vengeance.
There is a problem of people driving without licences and whilst disqualified. Your paper reports them almost daily. It should be tackled but in an objective manner and not as a knee-jerk reaction to this case.
JOAN SOURBUTTS, Coronation Street, Great Harwood.
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