NO jail sentence could help the family forget the loss of two children, a Nicosia court said yesterday just before jailing a man for two-and-a-half years in connection with the deaths of two brothers in a traffic accident almost two years ago.
The accident happened in Kokkinotrimithia towards the end of November 2002.
Forty-five-year-old Yannakis Neophytou sped into a dangerous bend ignoring the risk of a car coming from the opposite direction with tragic results, judge Natalie Tallaridou-Kontopoulou said.
“His thoughtlessness led to the loss of the lives of two young men, aged 17 and 21 years old,” the judge said.
And he tried to blame the accident on the dead driver when he learned about their deaths, she added.
The court said the loss of life and the pain and grief it caused to friends and relatives could not be ignored.
“At the same time, it should be stressed that the human lives lost cannot be restored and the loss cannot be measured with the duration of the prison sentence,” the judge said.
“No jail sentence imposed on the offender could help the family get over the loss of the two children or heal the pain they feel.”
The court stressed the increase in traffic deaths in recent years and the almost daily loss of life on the roads.
“The dramatic increase in recent years is due to the selfish flouting of the security of other drivers or pedestrians and indifference to the fact that the car is a dangerous object, which could cause death when in motion,” Tallaridou-Kontopoulou said.
She added that bad habits and attitudes could partly be corrected with the imposition of deterrent sentences where the offender’s driving justifies such treatment.
The court heard that the defendant’s bad driving that night was prolonged, according to a witness.
It was obvious that the defendant was driving dangerously without considering the possible consequences of his acts, the court said.
The court took into consideration the man’s clean record, and the dire consequences a jail sentence would have on him and his family.
The delay in filing the case and the fact that the defendant would have to live with his guilt for the rest of his life were also taken into consideration.
But the fact that he tried to blame the accident on someone else made the offence even more serious, the court said. And his personal circumstances could only justify a reduction of the prison term.
The 45-year-old was jailed for two-and-a-half years, while his drivers’ licence was suspended for three years.
