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Businesswoman Who Crashed while Using Hands-Free Not Guilty

Although an innocent driver died because of her fault, the businesswoman who was prosecuted over fatal crash while using hands-free mobile was not convicted for murder.

As incredible as it may seem, a jury at Warwick Crown Court found Lynne-Marie Howden not guilty of causing death by dangerous driving, The Telegraph reported. Instead, she was convicted of careless driving. Judge Richard Griffiths-Jones banned her from driving for 12 months and gave her a £2,000 fine.

Quite obviously, such a sentence could not satisfy the husband of the woman who was killed in the crash because oh Howden's irresponsibility. After the trial, Ian Frostick confessed he did not feel that he had been given an answer as to why the crash happened.

"I am disappointed at the outcome of this case. All I wanted from this case was... an explanation for my wife's death. The defendant did not set out to kill my wife, but this is what her actions did," he explained.

For those who don't remember, Lynne-Marie Howden who happens to be a director and head of sales at a business consultancy company, was just finishing a conversation with her boyfriend and a work colleague when she lost control of her Mercedes CLK 220, swerved across the road and crashed into another vehicle carrying Patricia Frostick. The victim died of heart attack before the ambulance helicopter could take off.

However, despite her negligence while driving, Judge Griffiths-Jones considered that Howden is not guilty of causing death after all...

"I am very conscious that the sentence is going to appear out-of-kilter with the enormity of the consequences. I am not going to lecture about the consequences, which will be perfectly obvious to you and will stay with you for the rest of your life," the judge said to Howden. "What happened to you in this case is a lesson to us all about the dangers of talking on the phone while we drive," he added.

As far as we're concerned, the sentence is far too mild for Howden's deeds. Humanity doesn't need lessons that using mobile phone while driving is extremely dangerous. What it really needs is an example that motorists are punished accordingly when they're not responsible behind the wheel.
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