If anyone wants a further insight into the insanity of UK motoring
laws, in order to be guilty of 'perverting the course of justice' the
guilty party must take positive action to avoid detection. HOWEVER, the
very positive action of doing a runner is not considered to be an
action at all, merely an 'omission' and therefore not grounds for a
'perverting the course of justice' charge! I wonder if the courts would
similarly hold that walking out of a shop with stolen goods is not
actually theft but merely an 'omission' to pay.
Although this case is horrific we should not loose sight of the fact
that 'hit and run's have practically become the norm. In areas such as
Manchester, Liverpool and Hull over half of all crashes resulting in
death or serious injury also result in the driver doing a runner.
The law holds that doing a 'hit an run' is actually only a technical
offence of failing to exchange insurance details and/or report the
crash. The 'Government' recently rejected calls for doing a 'hit an
run' to be made a serious offence in its own right or to automatically
warrant a 'perverting the course of justice' charge.'
In the UK 'the car (driver) is king and it seems nothing is ever going
to see drivers held properly accountable for their actions.