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Headline: Horrifying CCTV shows moment OAP is fatally struck by “maniac” drug-driver who has been jailed for just three-and-a-half years
Caption: **WARNING: CONTAINS DISTRESSING CONTENT** WORDS BYLINE: Julia Roberts The family of a much-loved pensioner killed by a speeding drug-driver have branded his three-and-a-half year jail sentence “disgusting”. Jamie Sutton was over the limit for cannabis and travelling at almost 40mph in a 30mph zone when his Audi S3 struck Michael “Mick” Piper as he crossed the road in Cliftonville, near Margate. Shocking CCTV footage, which Mr Piper’s family want people to see in full, shows how the impact forced the then 79-year-old onto the windscreen and "cartwheeled" him into the air before he landed on the bonnet and slid down onto the road. Mr Piper, who was described as previously fit, healthy and living independently, suffered devastating injuries and never recovered. He was left effectively bed-bound and was repeatedly admitted to hospital before dying 10 months later. Now his family say they are “deeply distressed” that Sutton could be released within 18 months – and plan to challenge his sentence as unduly lenient. The tragic incident happened as Mr Piper, who lived in nearby Turner Heights, was crossing Northdown Road shortly after 11am on April 18, 2024. He suffered multiple serious injuries, including numerous fractures, that required him to be airlifted to London's King's College Hospital where he underwent surgery and was placed in an induced coma. Although the retired airport worker was eventually discharged, he ultimately died at the QEQM Hospital in Margate on February 8 last year. A pathologist subsequently concluded that the collision marked "a stark turning point" for the pensioner's health and led directly to his deterioration and demise. On Wednesday this week, Sutton, 30, of Northdown Road, pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving while under the influence of drugs. But at the end of his sentencing hearing at Canterbury Crown Court, Mr Piper's sister, Ann Mabb, confirmed that the family would be seeking to refer the jail term to the Attorney General as being unduly lenient. Such an offence, where drugs are involved, carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Giving her reaction to the three-and-a-half years imposed, of which Sutton will serve up to 40%, Mrs Mabb, who is 84 and lives in Gillingham, said: "We are disgusted, it's terrible. "We thought it would be a lot more than that. He will be out in one-a-and-half [years]. "It's better than nothing, but [for] two-and-a-half years we have waited for this. "He should have got six years, 10 years, not three-and-a-half." Another family member at court, Cathie Cooper, added: “We are all deeply distressed with today’s poor outcome and feel Michael’s pain and suffering for the last 10 months of his life has not been represented in the sentencing given.” Sutton, a dad of two, could be seen blowing a kiss to two women sitting in the public gallery as he was led from the dock to the cells. At the start of proceedings, prosecutor Peter Forbes explained how the collision occurred outside Cliffs coffee shop in a 30mph limit area. Sutton was just a short distance from home, working two minutes away and on his way to buy lunch. The road was busy with traffic and pedestrians, and a van travelling in the oncoming lane had stopped to allow a shopper to cross. However, that pedestrian was already halfway in the road when forced to stop and wait as Sutton drove past. It was then that he careered into Mr Piper, who could be seen on camera looking both ways before stepping from the pavement a little way behind the stationary van. A member of the public later told police they heard a loud thud followed by screeching of tyres, and saw a newspaper fly into the air. With Mr Piper having landed in front of the Audi, Sutton got out and was seen on the pavement, holding his head in his hands and repeatedly saying "Oh my God". Before playing what was described by Judge Simon James as "distressing" CCTV footage, Mr Forbes told the court that the pensioner could be seen "scurrying" across the road before being struck. The emergency services attended and Sutton told police at the scene that he had been driving "normally" at 30mph when the victim "walked straight across" behind the van without looking. He explained he did not have time to stop and described it as a "bad accident" - adding it was his third in two years. Sutton gave a negative breath test for alcohol and, initially, for drugs. He also passed an impairment test. However, after what was described as "a faint line" developing in the two drug saliva tests, a sample of blood was given almost 12 hours later. It gave a reading of 2.7micrograms of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) - the active stimulant of cannabis - when the prescribed limit for driving is 2mcg. Although Sutton told police he did not use cannabis himself but was often around those who did, it was conceded in court by his lawyer Max Reeves that, at the time, he did smoke it "socially at weekends". The prosecutor also informed the hearing that despite Sutton's claims about how the collision occurred, none of the victim's actions were significant contributors. Mr Piper sustained fractures to his head, legs, pelvis, neck, spine, nose and eye socket, as well as a traumatic brain injury. He also suffered a heart attack shortly after arriving at hospital as a consequence of his injuries and physiological stress, and which developed into cardiac failure. Other resulting complex and protracted health conditions, including an acute kidney injury, infected pressure sore, and bacteria in his blood, meant he became "increasingly fragile" up until his death. The court heard that prior to the collision, Sutton had accelerated to an average of 40mph before reaching 44mph and then reducing to 39mph immediately before hitting Mr Piper. "The defendant had, therefore, been driving along the road at a speed significantly in excess of the 30mph limit and at a speed that was clearly inappropriate for the prevailing conditions, and leaving himself little time to react to Mr Piper's presence," explained the prosecutor. "It was a busy road with buses and other vehicles stopping, with pedestrians on both sides and crossing the road, and parked or stationary vehicles that would cause obstructions to motorists' views of pedestrians seeking to cross. "None of Mr Piper's actions would have contributed significantly to the collision. It was caused by the defendant driving close to 40mph on a busy street where there were obvious pedestrians on the pavements and others crossing the road." In September that year, Mr Piper told police from his hospital bed that although he had little recollection of the impact itself, he could remember looking both ways and, as the traffic on either side looked “backed up”, he crossed over Of the consequences, the keen fisherman said: "My life really came to a dead stop. I'm very annoyed that such a simple incident has led to this." Mrs Mabb also provided a victim impact statement in which she described her brother as "very kind and thoughtful", who was "out and about all the time" and loved spending time with family. But she said the incident "completely changed his life" and he "became a different person" from the "happy, independent and loving" man he had once been. Even his 80th birthday had to be spent in hospital before, as she described it, he "finally gave up" and died. Close friend Stephen Dawson said Mr Piper was "the kindest man you could ever meet who would go all out to help you if he could" and was "enjoying life to the full" until that morning. Addressing Sutton directly in his statement, he wrote: "He was completely independent until you got into your car full of that stuff, ploughed into him and took his life away. "It was heartbreaking watching him deteriorate. That day you got in your car, drove like a maniac and knocked down a lovely man who had at least 10 to 15 years of life left to enjoy the things he liked to do. "You took that away from him. He suffered until the day he died. He was left with no dignity. "You did that and I can never forgive you. I hope you feel guilty for the rest of your life." Nephew Simon Cooper said his uncle had never driven a car, so walking was "a major part of daily life". He added that given the extent of the injuries he suffered it was "a miracle" he survived the impact. "We continue to grieve for the loss of his life," wrote Mr Cooper, "and the cruel ending he was forced to endure". Sutton, who was 27 at the time and described as a hard-working man, has just one previous conviction for criminal damage in 2017. The court heard he had initially denied causing serious injury by careless driving as well as a separate drug-driving offence and faced trial in November last year. When that was superseded by Mr Piper's death, Sutton indicated he would plead guilty to the careless driving charge alone. Then, at a subsequent hearing in October after the pathologist's report had been served, he admitted both offences. However, it was not until the sentencing hearing on August 19 that he was arraigned on the more serious charge. Mr Reeves, defending, told the court although there was no evidence that Sutton's driving was prolonged, aggressive or substantially impaired, it was accepted he should have reduced his speed. He also highlighted that the level of THC was close to the statutory limit and that, having stopped at the scene immediately, he did not seek to evade responsibility. "It was a brief episode of careless driving with dreadful consequences," he added. "He takes full responsibility and does not seek to minimise or justify his actions." Mr Reeves also explained how Sutton no longer used the class B drug and had struggled with his mental health since the collision. Passing sentence, Judge James remarked that as with all such offences of this nature there were "no winners, only losers", adding that it was necessary to "take a step back" and apply the relevant sentencing guidelines "with a degree of what some might consider detachment, rather than permitting the understandable emotions surrounding this tragic case to dictate my conclusions". He also acknowledged that Mr Piper was "full of life and enjoying a full, fulfilling and independent" retirement until that day, and thereafter endured "a prolonged period of significant pain and suffering". "No sentence that I can impose within these guidelines is likely to provide much comfort or compensation for the tragic and untimely loss of a much-loved brother, friend and uncle," remarked the judge. "Additionally, it gives me no pleasure to have to sentence a hard-working father of effective good character for the tragic consequences of something he neither planned nor intended to happen." But, in detailing the circumstances of the incident, Judge James told Sutton: "You were driving at least 10 miles an hour in excess of the speed limit just before the collision and failed to slow or indeed take any account of the prevailing busy conditions on a street bordered by shops and, in particular, appeared to have little or no regard to the presence of pedestrians and the parked and other vehicles which had stopped to allow people to cross the road." He also said that while there was no direct evidence of substantial impairment and that excessive speed was "likely the major contributory feature" that led to the pensioner's death, the fact Sutton was above the drug-drive limit was "not simply an aggravating feature" but one which obliged the court to punish him in accordance with more stringent sentencing guidelines. Furthermore, Judge James remarked that it could not be "properly argued" that Mr Piper's actions substantially contributed to his death. "While others had appropriately moderated their speed and taken action to take account of the road conditions, you patently failed to have any appropriate regard to the prevailing circumstances," he told Sutton. "In such circumstances, considering that your decisions, omissions and conduct have led to a loss of life, I am forced to the conclusion that your offending is simply too serious to justify anything other than an immediate sentence of imprisonment." Having told the defendant he would serve no more than 40% of the jail term, the judge said it was likely he would be released "substantially earlier". Sutton was also handed a five-year driving ban and ordered to take an extended test to regain his licence. Under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme, anyone can submit a request for the Attorney General to review certain crown court sentences in England and Wales that appear grossly too low.
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