A driver high on crystal meth left two women terribly maimed. He will be free in just TWO years
Last updated at 09:48 31 January 2008
Crystal meth-user Alberto Ramos, 33, left a mother and daughter with their legs severed after ploughing into a crowd of shoppers
A judge attacked his own sentencing powers after he was forced to jail a drugged driver for just four years - despite the crash leaving a mother and daughter needing leg amputations.
Alberto Ramos, 32, was high on crystal meth - a stimulant also known as "go-fast" - when he lost control of his car and drove into a crowd of terrified shoppers.
In a scene of "horrific mayhem", he mowed down six pedestrians, including Victoria and Kayleigh Reeve, who were so badly injured that they both lost their right legs.
Ramos, who admitted dangerous driving, could be free in just two years because defendants have to serve only half their sentence.
Judge Geoffrey Rivlin criticised the jail term, saying it did not "permit the court to do justice for the general public or these victims in particular".
He added that the maximum sentence for dangerous driving is "out of line" with that for causing death by dangerous driving - 14 years.
Ramos, originally from Spain, had snorted a gram of crystal meth the night before the crash. The drug, proper name methamphetamine, can also be smoked or eaten and produces euphoria.
Ramos - who has three previous convictions for drug offences - later told how he had run out of crystal meth, and decided to meet his dealer to get some more.
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Police in Regent Street described seeing a 'tangled heap of bodies' after Ramos smashed into the shoppers last February
As he drove home through the 5pm Friday rush-hour traffic on London's Regent Street on February 16 last year, he lost control of his car.
On the pavement were 43-year-old Victoria Reeve from Pontefract, West Yorkshire, and her daughter Kayleigh, whom she had taken shopping as a 21st birthday treat.
As she was hit by the car, Mrs Reeve saw her foot being wrenched from her leg and lying 3ft away. Her daughter could not remember the crash.
Criticism: Judge Geoffrey Rivlin
A third victim suffered a broken left arm and ribs, while a fourth had serious foot and leg injuries. Two more pedestrians suffered severe bruising.
Ramos, of St John's Wood, North-West London, pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court to dangerous-driving and two counts of unlawful wounding.
He was also banned from driving for nine years. Sentencing him, Judge Rivlin warned of the dangers of crystal meth - which at the time of the incident had just been reclassified from a Class B to a Class A drug.
He said: "This drug is similar to amphetamines, but the effects are much stronger.
"It is a potent, dangerous stimulant which causes drivers to drift off the road and out of their lane. It also causes excessive sleeping and depressive symptoms."
Ramos admitted he had taken 'large amounts' of crystal meth before the collision
The judge told Ramos he accepted he had not meant to cause deliberate harm to anyone. But he said he could not ignore the fact that he had driven in such a central crowded area of the city under the influence or after- effects of the drug.
He added: "In my view, being unfit to control a car through drugs is a serious matter.
"At least three of your victims suffered serious injuries and feel at this time that their lives have been ruined by your driving."
After the hearing the Reeve family, who were in court, were too upset to talk about the sentence.
But their lawyers said: "Our clients are pleased Mr Ramos has got the maximum sentence under the guidelines set out by the law and they share the judge's view that this type of serious incident warrants the harshest sentence. They will now move on with the rest of their lives."
Replies
Will Uta be out on the road? Probably!
I am so beside myself with this problem out hear in Waianae. This is a combination of drugs, alcohol and prison mentality that we in Waianae have to cope with during our daily lives.
Farrington Hwy is a pathway to it's original namesake and his intended participation of devaluing the Hawaiian culture values.
Our shoreline used to have lot's of Na Kupuna on the beach, where they would sit and watch all people's grandchildren. They were approachable by all ages and had lot's of stories to tell about the days of the old. What happen to this long ago culture practice?
Waianae's shoreline turned into a place for visitors, parties, and recreational reasoning by the city, state, and tourist industry. Our 'iwi' was desecrated all along the Waianae shores, our children was severed from the Na Kupuna Wisdom. For lack of energy from too much disrespecting to the aina our Na Kupuna stays home.
Can any of our old values be returned?
The Hawaiian Kingdom laws are embedded into the state's laws, and yes it has to happen if we want to live here in Hawaii in the future. Judge Richardsons' natural court transitioned a lot of Hawaiian Kingdom laws into the laws that govern's today.