Road death of UK pensioner the result of tragic circumstances
By
Dennis Moore
25 October 2017
Last week, Arthur Yate, a 69-year-old widower, wept as he was jailed for the killing of 80-year-old pedestrian Ian Whitworth. It is thought that Yate fell asleep at the wheel of his car.
This was a tragic event for both the family of the victim, and Arthur Yate, with the trial revealing the terrible state of affairs facing many people in Britain. When hit by Yate, Whitworth was walking over a pedestrian crossing. Yate admitted causing death by careless driving and failing to stop after an accident. He was jailed for eight months and banned from driving for 15 years and eight months.
It is telling that the judge, Bernadette Baxter, in passing sentence, made the following remarks: “This is a truly tragic case, a thoroughly decent, hardworking, devoted, family man has been taken and a thoroughly decent, hardworking, devoted, family man is facing imprisonment for his criminal carelessness.”
She told Yate, “It’s clear you just didn’t see him, whether that was because you had nodded off or were in a world of your own because of grief and worried about your debts or fatigue, we will just never know.”
The death of Whitworth is tragic, no one can deny that, but the events leading to Yate taking the wheel on that fateful night also have a tragic underpinning. By all accounts when Yate drove that night he was exhausted, and clearly worn out. Even prosecutor Rob Hall said, “The defendant was suffering significant fatigue and this could be the root cause of the collision. Since his wife died he didn’t get restful sleep and cat napped.”
According to evidence presented, Yate had been working a continual week of night shifts at a supermarket in a losing battle to try and pay off…