Triple fatal crash sentences cut

Two young drivers jailed for their part in a crash in which three people died have had their sentences reduced.

Graham Lynn, 22, and Stuart Logue, 20, had their prison terms cut by a quarter at the Court of Criminal Appeal.

They had been jailed for 10 years and two months and eight years respectively for causing death by dangerous driving on the A75 near Dumfries in 2006.

Appeal judges ruled the starting point taken in sentencing the pair was outside the appropriate range.

The crash took place on a stretch of road known as the Glen on 5 November 2006.

Bethany Secker, 21, from Bristol, and teenage friends Mark Johnston and Luke Shearman, both from Dumfries, died in the seven-vehicle pile-up.

"One can always, with little difficulty, envisage a more serious case, or even find more serious illustrations in the records of the court"
Lord Clarke

Earlier this year temporary judge Rita Rae QC handed lengthy jail terms to Lynn and Logue after they admitted causing death by dangerous driving.

However, Logue, formerly of Grieve Walk, and Lynn, of Lockerbie Road, both Dumfries, challenged the length of the sentences.

It was pointed out that the judge had taken a 12-year sentence as the starting point in their cases before cutting it to take account of their guilty pleas.

It was argued that this was too high as the maximum punishment that could be imposed for the offence was 14 years' imprisonment.

Lord Clarke, who heard the appeal with Lord Penrose, decided that the sentencing judge had misdirected herself.

He ruled she had concluded it was difficult to envisage a much more serious case because of the number of aggravating features.

'Horrifying consequences'

"One can always, with little difficulty, envisage a more serious case, or even find more serious illustrations in the records of the court," he said.

However, he added: "This case involved, on any view, reprehensible conduct of a serious kind that resulted in horrifying consequences."

The appeal judges said the starting point taken in sentencing the pair was outside the appropriate range and their sentences should be quashed.

Lynn was instead given a reduced sentence of seven years and eight months and Logue was jailed for six years.

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