Meth-fuelled driver jailed for four years for fatal 2016 accident

[Bangkok Barry]

6 hours ago, PhilAtUbon said:

I have a lot of respect for Jonathan Head but haven't found any links to this report.

Any chance you could supply?

 

Nothing I can find either.

[hotchilli]

18 hours ago, webfact said:

The Appeals Court initially sentenced Jenpop to six years in jail but commuted it to four years

Should have been 15 years for manslaughter and started in 2016.

3 years of lawyers wrangling in the courts is absurd!

[spidermike007]

A four year sentence is continued testament to the weakness of the judiciary here, for multiple manslaughter. It is a lack of a deterrent, and the judiciary continues to weaken Thai society with their disservice. Useful testimony is a reason to reduce his sentence? How about deep pockets?

[ebean001]

an American I know got 3 years in USA. 3 people killed.

[Winky Wilson]

I guess if your high on Meth driving a Mercedes or BMW and kill a few innocent people you have status in Thailand. Another senario.. Doctor runs a pedestrian over killing them with his BMW in a shopping center, no jail time. If your a first class citizen, you get a free pass. When the heat cools off they will let him out the back door.

[bipper]

And if it is going to the supreme court and he's in the Hilton you can be dam sure it won't take 3 years to get there.

[sultan2011]

When a harsh sentence should be handed down they don,t do it!

He,d of got this if caught down Soi Bukkow with a gram!

[smutcakes]

From the reports i read he is still out on bail and will obviosuly never spend a day inside.

 

End of paragraph 3 of bkk p report clearly says he is released on bail.

Edited May 9, 2019 by smutcakes

[johng50]

4 years for killing 2 people, money certainly talks, no remorse, unbeliveable, while people

without money or connections get 10 years for minor offences. this place is the pits, the more

i read and understand about thailand and its people and standards the less i like this place. ive

said it before, is there such a thing as a 4th world country, maybe thailand can become one, we know how they like to be number one, they can have it all to themselves. disgrace on the courts and government.

[Moonlover]

21 hours ago, geoffbezoz said:

Appalling he only got 4 years.  Would have been at least 10 to 15 in many other countries. But then he was a M-B driver so the fact he only got 4 years possibly explains the the Thai grossly unfair judicial system whilst the relatives of the victims have the rest of their lives to live without their loved ones.

 

As for Jenpop's testimony being useful, one can only hazard a guess what info was considered useful !!

To make a comparison with other countries isn't very useful, but let's take a look at this one.

 

For a similar crime in the UK, a 10 year sentence would not be unusual, however if the accused pleads guilty at the onset a 50% discount is the norm. Then there is 'time off for good behaviour' to take into account.

 

Jenpop did plead guilty and he did cooperate with the court. With this in mind, 4 years is not so unrealistic.

 

Let's hope he learns his lesson! That's the main thing.

[smutcakes]

1 minute ago, Moonlover said:

To make a comparison with other countries isn't very useful, but let's take a look at this one.

 

For a similar crime in the UK, a 10 year sentence would not be unusual, however if the accused pleads guilty at the onset a 50% discount is the norm. Then there is 'time off for good behaviour' to take into account.

 

Jenpop did plead guilty and he did cooperate with the court. With this in mind, 4 years is not so unrealistic.

 

Let's hope he learns his lesson! That's the main thing.

He is out on bail.

[geoffbezoz]

16 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

To make a comparison with other countries isn't very useful, but let's take a look at this one.

 

For a similar crime in the UK, a 10 year sentence would not be unusual, however if the accused pleads guilty at the onset a 50% discount is the norm. Then there is 'time off for good behaviour' to take into account.

 

Jenpop did plead guilty and he did cooperate with the court. With this in mind, 4 years is not so unrealistic.

 

Let's hope he learns his lesson! That's the main thing.

The maximum prison sentence the court can impose for causing death by dangerous driving or careless driving under the influence of drink or drugs is 14 years. 50 % reduction is certainly not the norm in the UK

[Chongalulu]

6 hours ago, seminomadic said:

All this whining about the short sentence and how much longer the sentence would be in a country with less corruption.

 

Thai prisons are infinitely worse than your average Western penitentiary. After 4-6 months this guy's mental state will never be what it once was. Four years in a Thai prison is sufficient punishment since it was not a premeditated murder, as reckless as it may have been. This guy is going to be fcudek up for the rest of his days after that stretch.

So I assume you would elect for 14 years (the likely sentence he’d receive in uk for death by dangerous driving)than 4 years in a Thai jail ? Factor in the privileges and likely eventual shortening of the sentence his wealth and influence will command there and current state of overcrowded U.K. and violence in USA prisons  before making your final decision ......

[Donut21]

Red bull.  Need I say more.

[Solinvictus]

Im surprised he is even jailed.

 

The car manufacturer should of had a pre-installed meth intoxication test preventing the car from even starting. Thus, prevention of deaths.

 

Tip:

Don't buy a Ford.

 

????????

Edited May 9, 2019 by Solinvictus

[geoffbezoz]

9 minutes ago, Donut21 said:

Red bull.  Need I say more.

But Red Bull was a high value case where the killing of the police officer was worth no doubt many 10 millions of baht to let him run.   Here he was possibly not that rich so couldn't let go  but getting only 4 years has still possibly cost him 3 million.

[Bob12345]

6 hours ago, seminomadic said:

All this whining about the short sentence and how much longer the sentence would be in a country with less corruption.

 

Thai prisons are infinitely worse than your average Western penitentiary. After 4-6 months this guy's mental state will never be what it once was. Four years in a Thai prison is sufficient punishment since it was not a premeditated murder, as reckless as it may have been. This guy is going to be fcudek up for the rest of his days after that stretch.

You have a valid point, comparing the sentence to what he would possibly get in other countries makes no sense as in the US you would go behind bars for 200 years while in Scandinavian countries you would get a couple of years at max. Neither sentence will bring back the death, and the longer sentence does not end up better for society in many cases (the US has harsh sentences but crime is rampant there, while Scandinavian countries are the opposite). 

 

What most are whining about though, is that there seems to be little proportionality.

We can all come up with examples of rich people getting away (or a few years only) with murder (or killing people while under the influence), while many poor people end up in prison for long stretches for much smaller offenses like possesion of a few yaba pills, picking some mushrooms, or telling the truth which damages someone's reputation. If this guy gets 4 years, why does someone else get 50 years for something that does much less damage to the country and people around him?

[Pique Dard]

i have yet to understand what a useful testimony means when you've been driving under the influence of meth and causing an accident with fatal consequences

[anchadian]

11 hours ago, PhilAtUbon said:

I have a lot of respect for Jonathan Head but haven't found any links to this report.

Any chance you could supply?

No link.....reported on Twitter.

[Moonlover]

5 hours ago, smutcakes said:

He is out on bail.

On ‎5‎/‎8‎/‎2019 at 3:37 PM, webfact said:

The Appeals Court initially sentenced Jenpop to six years in jail but commuted it to four years on the grounds that his testimony was useful during the trial. The court ordered him to be jailed immediately.

 

Ah huh!

[smutcakes]

7 hours ago, Moonlover said:

 

Ah huh!

The Bkk post report says he was released on bail. 

 

Miss-reporting, deliberate obfuscation? 

 

A wealthy hi so Thai going straight to jail, yeah right. I know which report i believe.

[pegman]

I drove by that car after the fire was out. Nothing left but bare metal. It's only luck his extended joy ride didn't kill more. He sped past a toll booth breaking the cross arm too. I'm not a hang'em high type but 12-15 years would be more appropriate in my books.

[ratcatcher]

On 5/9/2019 at 3:48 AM, PhilAtUbon said:

I have a lot of respect for Jonathan Head but haven't found any links to this report.

Any chance you could supply?

https://twitter.com/pakhead

scroll down 5 stories.

[Baerboxer]

14 hours ago, smutcakes said:

The Bkk post report says he was released on bail. 

 

Miss-reporting, deliberate obfuscation? 

 

A wealthy hi so Thai going straight to jail, yeah right. I know which report i believe.

 

If he's on bail then presumably that's because he's lodged an appeal. To get to and go through the Supreme Court will take what, about 7-8 years? Presumably he appealing against the increased sentence ruling.

 

Will be very interesting to see what the Supreme Court finally decides.

[smutcakes]

13 hours ago, Baerboxer said:

 

If he's on bail then presumably that's because he's lodged an appeal. To get to and go through the Supreme Court will take what, about 7-8 years? Presumably he appealing against the increased sentence ruling.

 

Will be very interesting to see what the Supreme Court finally decides.

It will take as long as it needs to for it all to fade enough from peoples memories. Maybe a short on line clippet in a decade or so saying case upheld or what not and defendent appealing supreme court ruling for another 5 years..... etc

[Guest Jerry787]

killed 2 (even if unintentionally)  get 4 years... 
guess maths got the "tea bag" incognito got into the algebra.

[ifmu]

agree on the small jail sentence  being to small ......  as a side note whatever happened to red bull kid .. did thai let him go ..?

[seajae]

I believe he has already done his "monk" stint to try to get out of it and it hasnt worked, hopefully there will be no more leniency for this mongrel but I suppose it depends on just how wealthy and how big the cake boxes are

 

[Huckenfell]

On 5/8/2019 at 3:42 PM, geoffbezoz said:

Appalling he only got 4 years.  Would have been at least 10 to 15 in many other countries. But then he was a M-B driver so the fact he only got 4 years possibly explains the the Thai grossly unfair judicial system whilst the relatives of the victims have the rest of their lives to live without their loved ones.

 

As for Jenpop's testimony being useful, one can only hazard a guess what info was considered useful !!

Ah!  but his testimony was useful.  Whatever that means. And will it be a Thai 4 years ?

Edited June 3, 2019 by Huckenfell

[Huckenfell]

On 5/8/2019 at 7:47 PM, Inn Between said:

I was just looking at the the thread about the ex-TAT governor who received 50 years in jail for accepting a bribe to allow a film festival to take place in Thailand, and now I look at this thread about a rich methed-up man who kills other people through his selfish need for pleasure and total disregard for others. The court thinks he only deserved 2-1/2 years for that crime until people were too vocal, then they increase it slightly, yet someone who has committed what I would say is a much less offensive crime has to serve 46 years longer. And let's not forget that the piece of human garbage who was driving the lethal Mercedes will probably do 1/2 that time or be allowed to exit the country before doing any time, which seems to be the preferred way to dole out punishment to the rich criminals of Thailand.  

Hang on now ! It was not as though he shot them, they only burned to death.