March: Jail For Driver

24 January 2013, 16:49 | Updated: 24 January 2013, 17:22

A man has been jailed for four years for causing the deaths of two pedestrians in March.

19 year old Bill Bishop [pictured - right] from Station Road, Manea, was driving a Vauxhall Astra which hit two men as they were walking along Wimblington Road at 3:25am on the 11th December 2011.

Police say he was driving too fast in dark and wet conditions.

The victims were 24 year old Dominic James Iliffe, of Boadicea Court, Chatteris, and 27 year old James Kiely, of Drew Road, Silvertown, London.

Police say both men had been drinking in March that night and it is not known why they were in the carriageway. 

At his trial, which began on January 14 at Peterborough Crown Court, witnesses gave evidence of Bishop’s careless driving in March town earlier in the evening. 

Expert evidence was provided by Pc Tim Kirkby who concluded that the speed at which Bishop drove towards the scene in the conditions was inappropriate. 

Last Thursday (17 January), the jury returned unanimous guilty verdicts on two counts of causing death by careless driving and today (Thursday) he was sentenced to two years on each count, to run consecutively.  

Sergeant Liz Groom said: "We do not know why the two victims were walking in the carriageway at the time they were struck, but our investigation discovered Bishop had been driving far too fast in the dark and wet conditions." 

A statement released by the victims’ families said: "We are pleased with today’s result but no sentence will ever bring them back. 

The actions of Bill Bishop are something he will have to live with for the rest of his life and we hope this will act as a reminder to others to drive in a safe and appropriate way."