Pope, who is appealing her conviction, was initially arrested for causing her husband’s death by dangerous driving. However, the charge was dropped and replaced with the lesser offence of causing death by careless driving. . . .
Mr Pope’s sister, Christina Simmons, 33, said she burst into tears as Sheriff Robert Fife sentenced Pope to just 200 hours of community punishment. . . .
‘I couldn’t believe it,’ the mother-of-two said. ‘Even she thought she was going to jail – she had a rucksack and hold-all with her. But she turned the water-works on and was given unpaid work and a driving ban, all for taking somebody’s life. It is disgusting.’
Related: Gender [sic] disparity in criminal court. The post is mostly about the US, but the UK is mentioned: “Guidelines handed down in the UK in 2010 admonished judges to go easier on female offenders. In 2011 a UK Women’s Justice Task Force report offered the suggestion that women’s prisons in the UK be replaced with community service and mental health treatment. While the research done by the group making the suggestion is of interest, there is nothing in it to suggest that it is applicable only to women… yet the suggestion has not been extended to apply to male offenders.”
Earlier: Canada: After killing two with her car, defendant found “not guilty of dangerous driving causing death.” “Hecimovic testified she was distraught because of events at work that night and failed to see the lights at the intersection through her tears after making a lane change.”