A speeding drink driver who crashed his car killin
A speeding drink driver who crashed his car killing his young wife was set free today to spare his two young children further suffering.
Godson Pieterson, 33, drove ‘appallingly’ when his Citroen Xantia flipped over railings near a south London school.
Pieterson’s wife Miriam, 29, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, died in the horror smash.
Miraculously, the couple’s two young children, who were sitting in the back seat escaped from the wreckage virtually unscathed.
Judge Colin Smith, QC, said Pieterson’s ‘madcap’ driving should be punished.
But he passed a two year suspended jail sentence to save further misery for Becky now aged four and Robert, two.
Judge Smith said that as Pieterson had ‘lost the love of his life’ and would not be punished further.
Mr James Dawson, prosecuting, told Inner London Crown Court how Pieterson was seen by another driver ‘travelling at a very fast speed’ and ‘coming right up behind her.
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‘The car was then seen to slam on its brakes just before a speed camera and then speed up again,’ Mr Dawson said.
Pieterson span out of control at the junction of Dulwich Common and College Road, Dulwich.
‘The car went up over the railings.
The accident was a combination of excessive speed and alcohol.
‘
Tests revealed Pieterson had a blood alcohol
level of 110mg.
The legal limit is 80mg.
Accident investigators estimated Pieterson was travelling between 57 and 69mph in a 40 mph zone at the time of the accident.
A psychiatric report said although Pieterson claimed medical amnesia, it was more likely he was blocking out the accident from his mind.
The software designer, also had three previous speeding endorsements between 1993 and 1996.
Gary Grant, defending, said: ‘He had a life, and had a wife, and he has destroyed it.
‘
‘He’s going to forever look at his children knowing he’s robbed them of their mother.
‘He doesn’t need to be deterred from doing this sort of thing again.
‘His life is so destroyed, nothing can happen to make it any worse,’ Mr Grant added.
A psychiatrist’s report stated Becky and Robert have proved resilient, but they could suffer post-traumatic stress disorder if their father was sent to jail and they were fostered.
Judge Smith said: ‘There is a tremendous duty of the court to protect the public from madcap driving.
‘This is a tragic case.
Looked at objectively it is an appalling piece of driving, and there were serious aggravating features.
‘But you have lost the love of your life.
‘That is a tremendous punishment and one you will have to live with for the rest of your life and there can be no more serious punishment.
‘In addition, were I to send you to prison it’s absolutely clear that the people who would suffer are very young children who have already lost their
mother.
‘They would take the brunt of this matter.
You have suffered enough – there is no room for you to suffer any more.
‘
Pieterson, smartly dressed in a blue blazer with gold buttons, showed no trace of emotion as he was given a two year jail sentence suspended for two years.
In addition he was disqualified from driving for three years, and also ordered to pay costs of
pnds stlg 1,500.
Pieterson, of (8) Dunbarton Court, Brixton Hill, had admitted one charge of causing death by dangerous driving on January, 9, 2000.
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