Prison despite mercy plea
THE daughter of a talented musician asked a judge to show mercy to the careless driver who sped through a Southport junction and killed her father.
But Andris Kalnins, who knocked Raymond Mills, 73, from his Honda motorcycle, was locked up for six months after pleading guilty to causing death by careless driving.
Liverpool Crown Court heard “unemotional” Kalnins, 44, tried to hide a barrel of illegal red diesel stashed on the back seat of his BMW while Mr Mills lay dying on the roadside on June 29 last year.
He later accepted he had been speeding when he drove through the junction of Oak Street and Hart Street, without stopping at a “clearly visible” give-way sign.
But Mr Mills daughter Stacey Garland, praised for her “humanity” by Judge David Aubrey, QC, said: “I don’t bear the defendant any ill will and wouldn’t like to see a custodial sentence...
“He (Kalnins) has to live with what happened and the awful memories of that day. For me that is sentence enough.”
She described her “fabulous father” as an accomplished musician with “filmstar” good looks.
In a moving victim impact statement, she said: “We lost touch and I became ill with cancer and didn’t want to see him until I had hair. He was always telling everyone how beautiful I was.
“My hair has grown back but the opportunity to see my dad again has been taken from me. I drove past his house the month that he was killed but I couldn’t find the words so I didn’t call in.”
Ms Garland said Mr Mills, who previously worked for Pye Records and had “famous friends” including Des O’Connor and Max Bygraves, influenced his grandson to become a guitar teacher and sound engineer.
Mr Taylor read a statement from eyewitness Rachel Farrell, who was a passenger in a car travelling behind Mr Mills.
She said: “As (Kalnins) came through the junction he collided with the motorcyclist side-on. I saw the motorcyclist go flying through the air with the bike. When he landed on the floor he landed really hard.”
The court heard bystanders rushed to help Mr Mills, who sustained multiple injuries and was pronounced dead 20 minutes later.
Kalnins was described emerging from his wrecked BMW and stating “I stop, I stop,” before grabbing the barrel and saying he needed to “go to a friend’s house.”
However, he remained at the scene and was detained by police officers, who described him as “unfazed” and “unemotional.”
The court heard Kalnins lied in his first two police interviews but later changed his story in the face of eyewitness accounts.
Rory McCormack, defending, told the court: “I say on behalf of the defendant how sorry he is for causing the death of Mr Mills and for the pain and sorrow he has caused to his family and friends.
“He is very grateful for the understanding shown by Mr Mills’ daughter in the statement read in court.”
The court heard married dadof-two Kalnins, of Bath Street in Southport, had no previous convictions.
But Judge Aubrey said he could not be swayed by pleas for mercy.
Kalnins was banned from driving for two years, three months.