IS THIS REALLY JUSTICE? (From Warrington Guardian)

IS THIS REALLY JUSTICE?

A WOMAN whose night out ended with a broken pelvis when she was knocked down by a drink-driver has slammed the decision to let him off with probation.

Shirley Ratcliffe had just alighted from a coach in Penketh after returning from a night in Liverpool last February when she was knocked down by Ian Eccles.

The recovery period from her bruising injuries to her ribs and pelvis have meant that the 21-year-old from Highfield Road also lost her job as a legal secretary at North West Water.

This week Eccles, of Maple Crescent, Penketh, was given 12 months' probation by Warrington magistrates, along with a two-year driving ban and £500 fine.

Ironically, Eccles had only just heard that a close friend of his had died in a road accident earlier that day.

Shirley, who will be 22 this weekend, said of the verdict: "I feel like it is me who has done the sentence and him that magistrates have made the victim, when really he committed several offences that night.

"I'm absolutely sickened. I felt numb all day, I couldn't believe it. It's supposed to be a court of justice and that didn't happen."

When Eccles, a rail supervisor, was later tracked down by police, he was found to be more than double the drink-driving limit.

"I just remember being slumped on the floor and that was really awful because I didn't know whether I was dead or alive," said Shirley.

Shirley spent seven days in hospital and is still having physiotherapy and painkillers. She now walks with the aid of a stick.

The keen sportswoman and climber said: "I'm quite an independent person so it's gruelling for me not being able to do things.

"I have missed out on 10 weeks of my life. But I don't want to dwell on it because I would never recover. It's very debilitating."

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