One British driver has been banned for driving for 15 months and will have to stick to a curfew for the next 4 months, after he got busted with 11 people crammed into his Ford Focus.
Making matters worse, 7 of those 11 people were children and many were sat in the front and rear footwells. Meanwhile, himself and other adults were wearing seatbelts, the court in Llandudno, North Wales, UK, heard.
The incident took place in August and was captured by CCTV cameras. Kenneth Samuels picked up 3 adults and 7 children from the local train station, and then made another stop nearby, picking up another adult.
When police intercepted the car and had him pull over, one adult got out and ran away, the court heard during the sentence hearing, as the North Wales Pioneer reports. Samuels was arrested and pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, of which he was eventually convicted.
According to prosecutors, all adults were wearing seatbelts when the car was pulled over. One child was in a child carseat, while 3 other kids aged about 3 were crouching in the front and rear footwells. The other kids were squeezed between the adults.
“How you could put young children – as young as three – at such risk beggars belief,” the judge told Samuels at the hearing. “Perhaps other road users were not put in danger but the children were. What was also remarkable was that he chose not to give the children the seatbelts.”
Though Samuels pleaded guilty, his attorney tried to convince the court that the incident had been a misunderstanding. He said the Focus wasn’t Samuels’ but his brother’s, and he was merely doing him a favor by picking someone up from the station. He didn’t know how many people were there, and when he saw how many they were, he had no other choice but to try and cram them all inside. They didn’t have money for a taxi, apparently.
“Initially it was a Good Samaritan act,” Samuels’ attorney argued. “He should have said no but didn't because there were children and they were screaming and hungry. It was a foolish decision and he is genuinely remorseful.”
In addition to the driving ban and the 6pm-6am curfew, Samuels is also ordered to pay £170 in court expenses and will have to take extended testing before being able to drive again.
The incident took place in August and was captured by CCTV cameras. Kenneth Samuels picked up 3 adults and 7 children from the local train station, and then made another stop nearby, picking up another adult.
When police intercepted the car and had him pull over, one adult got out and ran away, the court heard during the sentence hearing, as the North Wales Pioneer reports. Samuels was arrested and pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, of which he was eventually convicted.
According to prosecutors, all adults were wearing seatbelts when the car was pulled over. One child was in a child carseat, while 3 other kids aged about 3 were crouching in the front and rear footwells. The other kids were squeezed between the adults.
“How you could put young children – as young as three – at such risk beggars belief,” the judge told Samuels at the hearing. “Perhaps other road users were not put in danger but the children were. What was also remarkable was that he chose not to give the children the seatbelts.”
Though Samuels pleaded guilty, his attorney tried to convince the court that the incident had been a misunderstanding. He said the Focus wasn’t Samuels’ but his brother’s, and he was merely doing him a favor by picking someone up from the station. He didn’t know how many people were there, and when he saw how many they were, he had no other choice but to try and cram them all inside. They didn’t have money for a taxi, apparently.
“Initially it was a Good Samaritan act,” Samuels’ attorney argued. “He should have said no but didn't because there were children and they were screaming and hungry. It was a foolish decision and he is genuinely remorseful.”
In addition to the driving ban and the 6pm-6am curfew, Samuels is also ordered to pay £170 in court expenses and will have to take extended testing before being able to drive again.