Is ten years behind bars enough after King’s Lynn man Aurelijus Cielevicius killed Gedney family in horror A47 crash
How much is a human life worth? Surely, if you are reckless enough to take three in one go, you should spend more than a decade behind bars?
Lynn man Aurelijus Cielevicius was sent to prison last week[1] after previously pleading guilty to three counts of death by dangerous driving.
He killed Lincolnshire family members Paul James Carter, Lisa Jayne Carter, and her daughter Jade Channelle Mace on January 15[2] when, while trying to overtake another vehicle, he plowed into their car on the A47 Constitution Hill.
Aurelijus Cielevicius has been jailed for more than a decade. Picture: Norfolk Police
His speedometer was stuck at 96mph. He had methylamphetamine, mephedrone and cannabis in his system[3]. He escaped with just two broken ribs, while his victims were pronounced dead at the scene.
Cielevicius, of John Street, will spend ten and a half years at most in jail despite “killed and destroying” the lives of those who knew the Gedney family. Those were the words of Summer Mace, whose mother, sister and step-father died in the horror crash.
Somehow, that doesn’t feel like enough. Cielevicius is aged 39 – the oldest he’ll be upon release is 50, meaning he’ll still have a long, long time to live a free man. Does he deserve that?
Lynn News reporter Kris JohnstonPaul Marsh
Prior to the crash, his BMW was seen rushing through through red traffic lights. Minutes before catastrophe struck, a police officer spotted him speeding on Hardwick Road.
In just 15 years time, the driving ban Cielevicius was handed in court last week will come to an end. Will any of us feel truly safe knowing he is back on the roads?
I rarely drive along the A47 now without thinking about just how recklessly he must have been tearing down the road. He should never be allowed behind the wheel again.
If truth be told, it is a damning indictment of our justice system when a man who has caused so much pain, anguish and torment is handed just a decade in prison.
And we can hold the reform arguments – some crimes are indefensible, and killing a family of three while driving on a cocktail of drugs is among them.
This is why I feel no remorse for drug-drivers who appear at Lynn Magistrates’ Court on a weekly basis. One slip-up, a single momentary lapse in concentration, can cost someone their life.
I just hope the ten years are enough for Cielevicius to come to terms with the atrocity he has committed.