CarbonRick

If you do, be VERY careful. Many of you won't know, because I have remained tight-lipped on here, but it was my brother who was yesterday sentenced to 2 years after an accident which claimed his four youngest children's lives.

The cause of the accident was down to a bracket which gave way as he took avoiding action as a result of an oncoming vehicle which didn't slow down or move over (admitted under oath by the other driver).

His relationship with his partner ultimately broke down, and she became worse than a typical ex, making all sorts of claims, fuelled by a 3rd party who sold a "story" to the sun.

Beyond all the intricacies of a highly technical case, I am still struggling to understand the sense in sentencing a man who has already lost so much, his sentence is life, whether he's in a prison or not. I am with his children now, and am trying to gain custody of them.

Ultimately, I must return to my point. If you make repairs or maintain your own vehicle, have it checked out, because if - heaven forbid - you have an accident, the authorities will endeavour to blame you (even for using a wrong nut).

R5FORD

iTrader: (1)

not sure what to say mate

Miller 3

iTrader: (4)

I heard about this yesterday mate' Sorry to here about the little ones . Im sure also that the press worked there magic and hammed up the whole thing.

BRAMMER

iTrader: (23)

I'll second that

J1mbo

iTrader: (1)

sorry to hear all of this must be devastating for the little uns

Ad4m RST

Thats terrible

All the best getting custody mate.

pa_sjo

.

ballin

iTrader: (1)

how sad

MAD EVO 4

sorry to of read this

tabetha

I am sorry to hear of this, did hear the stories on the news, best of luck to you in your custody thing.
You have a good point to make, just a pity that some garages can't be relied on either to do a safe job, or that there are dodgy mot places around.
Well all the best to you.
tabetha

Mark_

its such a sad loss of live, the british justice system works in a weird way

SteveH

Kevin Sharp

iTrader: (3)

I,m so sorry to hear this , is your brother the chap who had the accident with the landrover 110?, if so myself and a few mates were discussing this when we were out offroading last week and all of us agreed that a jail sentence was extremeley harsh after losing 4 of your children as that is a life sentence in its self

big mac

iTrader: (7)

+1 very sad news

Dangerous Malcolm..

My heart goes out to you and your family fella. It's a tragic waste of four young lives and you're brother has suffered enough without being sentenced too.

What annoys me about it is the media are kicking up a fuss about the fact his Landy was made up of spares from others. It's like WTF, it's common practice with them and the majority of parts are interchangeable anyway.

I take it the failed bracket was down to your brother, and not just a 'natural' component failure.

Lee Ivatt

iTrader: (1)

Just looked at the website link but none of the features work?

Can i ask what actually happened with the "bracket", was this some sort of modification or just a factory thing that broke?

Im just struggling to get my head around the fact some one can be jailed for a bracket breaking, that is unless it was a dangerous modification in the first place which could have contributed to the tragic fatalities.

And what happened to the other driver, who from what i can work out here your saying he was the cause of it. I assume he was sentenced accordingly!

Such a sad story, they all look like such beautiful little angels on the website. Thoughts are with your brother and family

Less.

Such a sad story

CarbonRick

The bracket failed, will try and dig up what the metallurgist from UMIST said, but his calculations actually made no sense, it was a 17 year old part, but had been degrading for 35 years somehow?!?. It was a standard fit part. Yes it was the Yellow 110.

Which website are you referring to?

Thanks for the support folks, please don't take this as a sympathy post, I am venting anger, and hoping that someone won't have to go through the same from reading this.

Lee Ivatt

iTrader: (1)

the one in your signature

CarbonRick

SHould be fine mate.

mechanic28

iTrader: (5)

Horriable fella all the best in ya case for the kids

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

Thats a nigntmare mate,i feel sorry for you and everyone involved.I always say if your not confident at doing the job give it to someone who is.

C4llyT

Sad story this.
Just read in paper supposed to be doing 80 down a country lane or something??

fuzzy

i didnt see this story in the papers. someone else caused the crash by driving to fast on the wrong side of the road and your brother went to jail because a bracket broke on his car resulting in the loss of control and the 4 deaths of his children?

RS Juto

Heard this on the news yesterday "they said he had tried to make his landrover into a high performance off roader" there words not mine. Sorry to here about this, i feel sorry for all involved.

CarbonRick

80, my arse. Speeds like that weren't even mentioned in court. I'm about fed up of the sensationalist crap they print!

Glenny Boy: He was confident, had rebuilt countless vehicles, worked on friends vehicles etc.

Fuzzy: To be fair speed wasn't a factor in the accident at all, but the oncoming driver didn't move over OR slow down, so my bro took avoiding action by using the grass verge, shortly after, the bracket appears to have failed causing the loss of control. The rest unfortunately is history.

RST

iTrader: (3)

I see this on the news also. A real shame
And best of luck mate with the kids.

The Youth.

iTrader: (1)

really sorry to hear all this, I did read/follow the story in the news.
I think they were 17 ish faults that the police inspectors found, not wanting to go over old ground but could you post them up, just so we can get a feel of were they a factor and were they unsafe etc.
I think one of them was different size brake calipers on the front axle?

one other question was your brothers wife in the vehicle at the time?
steve

baba

would you expect anything less from the british authority??this country is so fucked up!!!
heart goes out to you,your brother,family.

so in theory if he put the vechile in to say arnold clark and the part failed in the same way.........whod go to jail then?

baba

i posted before i read this post.
is that true...17ish faults?

fuzzy

at first thought it does seem very harsh that the police seem to have gone after your brother as the cause. parts fail all the time , ive seen new parts fail.
it must have been a heavy crash to kill 4 but without knowing the facts it would be foolish for me to draw conclusions at a difficult time.

CarbonRick

Fuzzy, it was the effects of water consumption(drowning) that killed them.

I will try and get details of the faults, I don't particularly want to go over this ground, but I think to illustrate my point it would be best.

Ultimately, the bracket failing was the ONLY cause of loss of control. They criticised the "oversized tyres", the external rollcage, the lifted suspension etc etc.

The huge problem here is the press padding out their stories with half truths. The press were heavily criticised before the sentence was delivered.

costina

iTrader: (1)

Sad loss for you fella

There is a lesson to be learn't as i was trying to say to another PF user about stainless fixings on suspension parts.

Its an extreme case and no doubt all are thoughts are with you at this time

Paul

focusv8

Investigators found the rear brakes 'hardly worked at all' and there were also faults with the rear axle and steering.
'Simply steering it in a straight line would have been difficult,'

The jury heard how different-sized brake callipers had been fitted to the two front wheels, with the larger - on the offside - applying much more force.

Mr Spencer said: 'The imbalance was erratic. Sometimes the vehicle would stop nearly straight, other times it would lock and drag erratically.'

The trailing-link arms that held the rear axle in place were also faulty, with one fitted wrongly and the bracket on the other having rusted away.

Experts also found the steering to be defective, with the vehicle rolling even at modest speeds because of a roll-cage that had been attached to the exterior of the car causing it to be top-heavy.

The driver's seat was held in place by only two bolts rather than the required four, causing it to move around,


The tyres were extra-large which meant the speedometer did not give a correct reading.


.

dojj

iTrader: (3)

i think there was also the point that it had the wrong sized tyres on the same axle

but i can't say for sure as it was reported a while ago and i've not kept up with the news

i can't imagine what it's like being told that you are responsible for the deaths of 4 of your own kids, that's more than enough of a sentence in itself

Lee_R21Turbo

iTrader: (1)

Firstly....very sorry to hear of your loss mate, must be difficult going over it all again like this.

One thing though - if these things that where picked up where THAT bad......why werent they picked up at MOT time? Surely it would be negligence on the part of the MOT tester also!!!

RST

iTrader: (3)

I was thinking the same.

pani_k

iTrader: (1)

Don't really know what to say here. Sorry for your loss and I hope that the issue can be put behind you and the kids.

Rs Baz

i was just about to say this as i was reading the post

when was the mot before or after mods

best of luck mate thoughts are with you all

i couldnt look at the site link for long to much upsetting for me