Australia

Speeding motorist who killed a pensioner jailed

Poor-sighted Stephen Farragher was supposed to wear glasses when driving But he didn't have the..

Published

4 years ago

November 3, 2017

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Poor-sighted Stephen Farragher was supposed to wear glasses when driving
But he didn't have them on when he hit Audrey Tunstall, 79, and Natalli Fisher, 36
Farragher, 47, killed Mrs Tunstall and left Ms Fisher with life-changing injuries
Farragher, from Cumbria, was jailed for 45 months and banned from driving

By Keiran Southern For Mailonline

Published: 05:49 EDT, 3 November 2017 | Updated: 05:50 EDT, 3 November 2017

A speeding motorist who was not wearing his glasses when he ploughed into two women at 50mph – killing one and leaving the survivor with life-changing injuries – has been jailed for almost four years.

Poor-sighted Stephen Farragher, 47, was supposed to wear glasses as a condition of his driving licence and was traveling at 57mph in a 40mph zone, a court heard.

He was on his way home from his job at Lidl, in Maryport, Cumbria, when he smashed into 79-year-old Audrey Tunstall, and her friend, 36-year-old Natalli Fisher, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

The older woman died a short time later from her injuries, while Ms Fisher suffered injuries so severe that she had to spend several months in hospital.

Speeding driver Stephen Farragher has been jailed for killing 79-year-old Audrey Tunstall (pictured). Farragher hit Ms Tunstall and her friend Natalli Fisher, who was seriously injured

The court heard that in the seconds before the accident, Farragher, 47, was driving at 57mph in a 40mph zone on the A596 near to Dunmail Park shopping centre.

At the time he was not wearing his glasses, even though it was a condition of his driving licence, the court heard.

At an earlier hearing, Farragher, of Thirlmere Avenue, Workington, had admitted causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Prosecutor Paul Cummings told the court that the accident happened at 7.20pm on October 22 last year, as the defendant was driving his Volkswagen Passat on the A596 through a section of road bordered with bus shelters and pavements.

The prosecutor explained that Ms Fisher and her friend had travelled by bus to a local NHS medical centre, because the pensioner had been feeling unwell.

Afterwards, they took a bus to Dunmail Park, probably so that the pensioner could get her prescription medication from a pharmacy at the shopping centre.

The accident happened in darkness as the two women were crossing the road.

The prosecutor accepted there was an alternative crossing point on the road nearby, in the form of a central traffic island.

CCTV of the tragedy showed the defendant applied his brakes just before the collision, slowing his speed to about 50mph at the moment of impact.

Mr Cummings confirmed the defendant had not been drinking, nor was he using a mobile phone.

'The defendant said he hadn't seen anyone until it was too late,' said Mr Cummings.

Ms Fisher was left with life-changing injuries in the incident and Farragher, who should have been wearing glasses while driving but wasn't, was jailed for 45 months

A man of previous good character, Farragher had an unblemished 27 year driving career until that point.

Ms Fisher suffered multiple injuries, including compound fractures, a punctured lung, and a head injury which has caused her memory problems.

She was in a coma for 11 days and in hospital for seven months.

The court heard that since the accident Miss Fisher has had to learn again how to speak, read, and eat, and she will never be able to live independently.

In his police interview, Farragher agreed he should have been wearing his glasses at the time, but the judge accepted this made no material difference to the accident, which was caused by the defendant's speed.

Michael Rawlings, for Farragher, said the defendant was remorseful.

Married father-of-two Farragher has suffered post-traumatic stress following the incident.

Passing sentence Judge James Adkin told the defendant that had he been driving within the speed limit the accident may never have happened.

'You reaction time was severely curtailed,' sad the judge.

In addition to the jail term, Farragher will be banned from driving for three years from the point when he is released from his 45 month sentence.

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Australia

Australia resists calls for tougher climate targets

Published

3 weeks ago

April 23, 2021

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Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison has resisted pressure to set more ambitious carbon emission targets while other major nations vowed deeper reductions to tackle climate change.

Addressing a global climate summit, Mr Morrison said Australia was on a path to net zero emissions.

But he stopped short of setting a timeline, saying the country would get there “as soon as possible”.

It came as the US, Canada and Japan set new commitments for steeper cuts.

US President Joe Biden, who chaired the virtual summit, pledged to cut carbon emissions by 50-52% below 2005 levels by the year 2030. This new target essentially doubles the previous US promise.

By contrast, Australia will stick with its existing pledge of cutting carbon emissions by 26%-28% below 2005 levels, by 2030. That’s in line with the Paris climate agreement, though Mr Morrison said Australia was on a pathway to net zero emissions.

“Our goal is to get there as soon as we possibly can, through technology that enables and transforms our industries, not taxes that eliminate them and the jobs and livelihoods they support and create,” he told the summit.

“Future generations… will thank us not for what we have promised, but what we deliver.”

Australia is one of the world’s biggest carbon emitters on a per capita basis. Mr Morrison, who has faced sustained criticism over climate policy, said action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions would focus on technology.

The prime minister said Australia is deploying renewable energy 10 times faster than the global average per person, and has the highest uptake of rooftop solar panels in the world.

Mr Morrison added Australia would invest $20bn ($15.4bn; 11.1bn) “to achieve ambitious goals that will bring the cost of clean hydrogen, green steel, energy storage and carbon capture to commercial parity”.

“You can always be sure that the commitments Australia makes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are bankable.”

Australia has seen growing international pressure to step up its efforts to cut emissions and tackle global warming. The country has warmed on average by 1.4 degrees C since national records began in 1910, according to its science and weather agencies. That’s led to an increase in the number of extreme heat events, as well as increased fire danger days.

Ahead of the summit, President Biden’s team urged countries that have been slow to embrace action on climate change to raise their ambition. While many nations heeded the call, big emitters China and India also made no new commitments.

“Scientists tell us that this is the decisive decade – this is the decade we must make decisions that will avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis,” President Biden said at the summit’s opening address.

Referring to America’s new carbon-cutting pledge, President Biden added: “The signs are unmistakable, the science is undeniable, and the cost of inaction keeps mounting.”

Read from source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-56854558

Australia

Sydney seaplane crash: Exhaust fumes affected pilot, report confirms

Published

3 months ago

January 30, 2021

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The pilot of a seaplane that crashed into an Australian river, killing all on board, had been left confused and disorientated by leaking exhaust fumes, investigators have confirmed.

The Canadian pilot and five members of a British family died in the crash north of Sydney in December 2017.

All were found to have higher than normal levels of carbon monoxide in their blood, a final report has found.

It recommended the mandatory fitting of gas detectors in all such planes.

British businessman Richard Cousins, 58, died alongside his 48-year-old fiancée, magazine editor Emma Bowden, her 11-year-old daughter Heather and his sons, Edward, 23, and William, 25, and pilot Gareth Morgan, 44. Mr Cousins was the chief executive of catering giant Compass.

The family had been on a sightseeing flight in the de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver plane when it nose-dived into the Hawkesbury River at Jerusalem Bay, about 50km (30 miles) from the city centre.

The final report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) confirmed the findings of an interim report published in 2020.

It said pre-existing cracks in the exhaust collector ring were believed to have released exhaust gas into the engine bay. Holes left by missing bolts in a firewall then allowed the fumes to enter the cabin.

“As a result, the pilot would have almost certainly experienced effects such as confusion, visual disturbance and disorientation,” the report said.

“Consequently, it was likely that this significantly degraded the pilot’s ability to safely operate the aircraft.”

The ATSB recommended the Civil Aviation Safety Authority consider mandating the fitting of carbon monoxide detectors in piston-engine aircraft that carry passengers.

It previously issued safety advisory notices to owners and operators of such aircraft that they install detectors “with an active warning” to pilots”. Operators and maintainers of planes were also advised to carry out detailed inspections of exhaust systems and firewalls.

Read from source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-55862128

Australia

Australia unlikely to fully reopen border in 2021, says top official

Published

4 months ago

January 23, 2021

admin

Australia is unlikely to fully open its borders in 2021 even if most of its population gets vaccinated this year as planned, says a senior health official.

The comments dampen hopes raised by airlines that travel to and from the country could resume as early as July.

Department of Health Secretary Brendan Murphy made the prediction after being asked about the coronavirus’ escalation in other nations.

Dr Murphy spearheaded Australia’s early action to close its borders last March.

“I think that we’ll go most of this year with still substantial border restrictions,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Monday.

“Even if we have a lot of the population vaccinated, we don’t know whether that will prevent transmission of the virus,” he said, adding that he believed quarantine requirements for travellers would continue “for some time”.

Citizens, permanent residents and those with exemptions are allowed to enter Australia if they complete a 14-day hotel quarantine at their own expense.

Qantas – Australia’s national carrier – reopened bookings earlier this month, after saying it expected international travel to “begin to restart from July 2021.”

However, it added this depended on the Australian government’s deciding to reopen borders.

Australia’s tight restrictions

The country opened a travel bubble with neighbouring New Zealand late last year, but currently it only operates one-way with inbound flights to Australia.

Australia has also discussed the option of travel bubbles with other low-risk places such as Taiwan, Japan and Singapore.

A vaccination scheme is due to begin in Australia in late February. Local authorities have resisted calls to speed up the process, giving more time for regulatory approvals.

Australia has so far reported 909 deaths and about 22,000 cases, far fewer than many nations. It reported zero locally transmitted infections on Monday.

Experts have attributed much of Australia’s success to its swift border lockdown – which affected travellers from China as early as February – and a hotel quarantine system for people entering the country.

Local outbreaks have been caused by hotel quarantine breaches, including a second wave in Melbourne. The city’s residents endured a stringent four-month lockdown last year to successfully suppress the virus.

Other outbreaks – including one in Sydney which has infected about 200 people – prompted internal border closures between states, and other restrictions around Christmas time.

The state of Victoria said on Monday it would again allow entry to Sydney residents outside of designated “hotspots”, following a decline in cases.

While the measures have been praised, many have also criticised them for separating families across state borders and damaging businesses.

Dr Murphy said overall Australia’s virus response had been “pretty good” but he believed the nation could have introduced face masks earlier and improved its protections in aged care homes.

In recent days, Australia has granted entry to about 1,200 tennis players, staff and officials for the Australian Open. The contingent – which has recorded at least nine infections – is under quarantine.

Read from source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-55699581