THE widow of a biker has criticised the justice system after an 83-year-old motorist was given a curfew for killing her husband.
Neil Scott was given the eight-week curfew for causing the death of father-of-four Martin Curley by careless driving.
Outside court, Mr Curley's widow, Vivien, said: "The sentence should have provided closure for us as a family and allowed us to get on with the grieving process. It has not.
"A sentence should have a purpose: to punish, to reform and rehabilitate, to reduce and deter crime, to protect the public, or to make reparation to victims.
"An eight-week curfew as a sentence for causing a person's death does none of these things and undermines the seriousness of the offence."
Scott, of Tranby Lane, turned right into Greenstiles Lane, across the path of Mr Curley, who was on his motorbike.
Mr Curley died after the accident at Tranby Lane, Swanland, on September 25, as a result of his injuries.
Vivien said: "Nine months ago, Mr Scott killed my husband, Martin.
"He killed our four children's dad and he killed our ten grandchildren's grandpa.
"Mr Scott has destroyed all of these lives, and damaged many more people in our larger family and our world.
"Mr Scott did not set out to kill Mart that day, but he did kill him, as a result of continuing to drive when he no longer had the perception skills to be safe on the roads.
"He did not see Mart at all, despite it being a long, straight road with good visibility.
"To have endured the nine months of investigations, delays and court hearings since Mart's death has been beyond description. For the sentence to be the final conclusion is extremely disappointing.
"We need to change this to avoid other families going through this experience."
Scott has surrendered his driving licence to the DVLA.
At Beverley Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, District Judge Rutherford said he was confined to the sentencing powers of the magistrates' court, which meant he could only impose a fine or a community order for the charge.
Unpaid work was ruled out, as was a fine, because both were "impossible" for the 83-year-old, who is also a carer, to carry out – leaving a residency order, with a curfew, as the only option left for punishment.
Scott must stay inside his home from 9pm to 6am every day for eight weeks. He was also ordered to pay costs and a victim surcharge.
Vivien said: "I do not want to punish Mr Scott; he has Mart's death on his conscience for that.
"A punishment will neither bring Mart back, nor prevent further deaths of this type.
"Rehabilitation is not appropriate in this case, and it is impossible for Mr Scott to repair the damage to us.
"This leaves deterrence and public protection as the primary purposes of any sentence applied.
"There is no deterrent message to other drivers in the sentence and it offers no additional protection to the public.
"In my view, a suspended custodial sentence would have been an appropriate resolution as the deterrent message is provided to other elderly drivers without causing any detrimental impact on Mr Scott's health and circumstances.
"As the system has no age-appropriate sentencing tools for the elderly, and the number of elderly drivers continues to increase, there is a need to address this in order to prevent further age-related collisions, resulting in deaths and serious injuries.
"Alternatively, there needs to be a requirement for regular hazard perception testing beyond a certain age."
