Family speaks out after uninsured driver who killed grandmother Linda Boore in A46 crash walks free from court
THE family of a grandmother killed by an uninsured driver who walked free from court this week has backed a call for more robust sentencing and better road safety.
Linda Boore, 75, was with her husband driving home to Nottingham from a wedding on 14th October 2023 when their Honda CRV was hit head-on by a Vauxhall Astra being driven by Redi Muzhaki, 22, on the A46 at Redhill.
Described as “a wonderful, kind mum” and “amazing, caring grandmother”, Mrs Boore never regained consciousness and died at University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire on 3rd November. Her husband Robert, now 79, was taken to the same hospital after suffering devastating injuries, including a broken lower back, pelvis, hip and three ribs, and a punctured lung.
Muzhaki, 22, from Bridgeman Road, Coventry, pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to causing death by careless driving while uninsured on Friday (13th December). Despite the tragic outcome, Muzhaki was given a suspended sentence, meaning he walked free from court. In all, Muzhaki was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment suspended for two years to run concurrently for careless/inconsiderate driving. For causing death whilst driving without insurance, Muzhaki was also sentenced to 12 months imprisonment to run concurrently. He was banned for driving for two years. He must also comply with the terms of a 25-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement (a programme used to help redress criminal behaviour), carry out 200 hours of unpaid supervised work and pay £187 victim surcharge.
Although it was initially reported that Muzhaki had no licence, the Albanian national did in fact have a Greek licence.
There were no witnesses to the crash, but Muzhaki’s explanation was that he took his eyes off the road while spitting chewing gum out of the window – even though he admitted seeing headlights coming towards him. He was not insured to drive the car, which he had borrowed without asking in order to give his passenger a lift, and was 25 miles into his journey when the collision occurred.
Police found that his car had been wholly in Mr Boore’s lane, and that both cars were assumed to be travelling at 60mph when they collided head-on.
There has been a public outcry over the leniency of the sentencing, which was echoed by the family of Mrs Boore.
Speaking to the Herald, daughter Nicola Williams, 47, said: “We share people’s reaction to the lack of a custodial sentence. All our friends and family agree, no-one thinks it’s OK.”
Despite this, Mrs Williams, who attended the sentencing at court with her husband on Friday, praised the judge, Andrew Lockhart KC, and police, if not the sentence.
“It's been a long 14 months. We didn't get to have mum’s funeral until the 28th December last year because of the postmortem and coroner’s report and other matters. And then he [Muzhaki] changed his defence lawyer, so that was further delay.
“Every part of it has been drawn out. But as long as we got to a guilty verdict at the end of it, that was what we were working towards.
“The judge was actually very kind. He spoke directly to me on several occasions and I appreciated his words.”
Mrs Williams accepted why the charge was careless rather than dangerous driving, which shows intent and is sentenced more harshly.
Judge Lockhart took into account the fact that Muzhaki had been employed, had pleaded guilty and his young age.
Mrs Williams explained: “Ultimately, the defence lawyer argued for suspension of sentence, that they strongly believe that this man is not a threat to himself or society, and it would serve him no purpose to spend time in prison.
“There was also mention that studies that show that 22-year-olds have undeveloped brains and are unable to establish the consequences of continued poor decisions. Essentially, the judge said, his ‘poor decision was saying yes to your friend that asked for help when you didn’t have a car. You took another poor decision, and you got in the car, you drove a long way, which is a continued poor decision, and you spat your gum out the window when you admitted you’d seen headlights.’”
On the subject of leniency because of his age, Mrs Williams, a mum of three including a stepson, said: “My stepson is 25, and I get it, but unfortunately, there are consequences to actions, whether we intend them or not, and that’s the bit that I think I struggle with most. His liberty is still his, whereas he took my mum's liberty away from her in an instant. I think that’s why people want custodial sentences for offenders, to feel some kind of balance that her loss of life was worth loss of freedom for him.”
Not sending Muzhaki to prison, even for a short time, also raises issues with messaging, said Mrs Williams.
“Teenagers grow up knowing about the dangers of knives and guns but I don't think we get the message over that a car is a weapon.
“Would I have liked to see him go to prison for a period of time? I think that's what I've been thinking all along. I feel a loss of his freedom for some period of time in exchange for my mum's terminal loss of life would have sent a better message to him and others.
“Would it have made me feel better? I don't know, I can’t bring her back, but the only thing we had left for her was justice, to try and gain that for her. We got a guilty verdict, the confirmation that somebody took her life, and that is a big part. But I think as a society we all do feel that some prison time should be the ultimate goal for somebody that takes somebody's life. There are consequences to actions.”
She added: “Losing someone is one thing, but having someone taken away by the actions of another is something else entirely. My dad had his wife of 54 years taken from him. I had a wonderful, kind mum taken from me and my children had an amazing, caring grandmother taken from them.
“The overwhelming nature of losing someone so suddenly and without warning is one that has been and continues to be a daily struggle for me.”
Mrs Williams also spoke poignantly about missing her mum as Christmas approaches.
“It didn’t feel like Christmas at all last year, my dad was still recovering and we had mum’s funeral on 28th December. So in a way this feels like the first Christmas without her, it’s very challenging. She would very much host Christmas – the home where we all went to. So this year, we have made a concerted effort to try and make it Christmas again, in her memory more than anything else. Because that is what we’re left with now – doing things in her memory and in her name.”
See next week’s Herald for more on road safety, including our campaign to improve safety on A46.
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