'We're the ones with a life sentence': Son of Shropshire biker killed in hit-and-run 'struggling' as man involved in case is freed
The son of a Shropshire biker killed in a hit-and-run incident has spoken of his dismay after one of the men involved was released from prison following an appeal.
Matthew Paul Leggett, 25, was sent to prison in October by a judge – who also locked up his friend, Finlay Lewis Davidson, 24, for criminal conduct – after the crash that killed James Greenwood, from Market Drayton.
Leggett’s BMW struck 61-year-old Mr Greenwood, a former soldier, as he crossed a road near Keswick in the Lake District on April 7, 2018.
The case:
Carlisle Crown Court heard that Leggett sped off without checking what had happened. He drove to meet Davidson, who was later found to have deleted all call data between himself and Leggett after 11pm that night from his mobile phone.
Leggett, from Cockermouth, was jailed for 16 months and banned from driving for four years. Davidson, of Great Clifton, was jailed for 10 months.
But Leggett and Davidson appealed their punishments and at a hearing in January, Davidson had his sentence replaced with a suspended sentence of eight months. It was suspended for two years. Leggett’s jail sentence remained in place.
Mr Greenwood’s son Jamie, 29, said he was still “struggling” to accept the result of the hearing.
“I just don’t see any justice to be honest,” he said.
“I think it’s just a joke of a system. We are struggling, would be the best way to describe it.”
He said that even after the original hearing, he thought the sentences were lenient and added: “We’re the ones, in a way, with a life sentence.”
