BARKINGSIDE: UK's oldest dangerous driver walks free from court (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

BARKINGSIDE: UK's oldest dangerous driver walks free from court

8:01am Saturday 1st December 2007 in News By Sam Adams

A GRIEF-stricken sister has branded the justice system "an absolute disgrace" after the country's oldest dangerous driver was spared jail for killing her talented brother.

Eugene Goody, 93, ploughed into Stephen Friede as he used a pedestrian crossing in Fremantle Road, Barkingside, in April last year.

Goody, of Verderers Road, Chigwell, admitted he was arguing with his son and not looking where he was going, when he hit Mr Friede, 52, of Stoneleigh Rd, Barkingside.

Mr Friede, a successful author, suffered massive head injuries in the collision and was airlifted to the Royal London Hospital, where his relatives took the painful decision to switch of his life-support machine after doctors declared him brain dead.

Mr Friede's sister, Francine Stacey, slammed the 12-month suspended sentence and four-month driving ban handed to Goody at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

She said: "It's an absolute disgrace. What punishment has there been? He's been given a suspended sentence, and that's not punishment.

"They've taken his licence away, but he said he wasn't going to drive again anyway, so he hasn't had a punishment.

"My feelings haven't changed. I just feel the law says it's a crime to kill someone but if you're over a certain age it doesn't matter.

"I'm angry towards him but also angry towards a system that says once you're over a certain age you can do whatever you like.

"There should be a more rigorous system that says when you get to a certain age you should have to sit a driving test."

Mrs Stacey, of Traps Hill, Loughton, said Goody, a Second World War veteran, could have spared her family months of anguish if he had not waited until a month before the trial before admitting to causing death by dangerous driving.

She said: "He should have apologised right at the beginning and he wouldn't have put us through the hell he's put us through."

Mr Friede's father, Wallace, of Manor Road, Chigwell, echoed his daughter's feelings.

He said: "This case has dragged on for 19 months and should never have got here. He should have pleaded guilty a long time ago.

"All we want him to do is say sorry. If you ran over a friend's dog you'd say sorry. We've had no remorse. All along he's said that he hasn't caused any accident."

Paying tribute to his son, Wallace said: "Nothing's going to bring him back. We have fond memories of him and we're never going to forget him."

A spokesman for road safety charity, Brake, backed the family's call for compulsory re-testing for elderly drivers.

She said: "The case of Mr Goody highlights the need to address the issue of re-testing, particularly with Britain's ageing population.

"Failure to ensure you are fit to drive puts you at risk of becoming a killer."

In addition to a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and a driving ban, Goody was ordered to pay £1,580 costs and given a curfew order prohibiting him from going out between 10pm and 7am.