The death of Mark Gibney in 2003 was horrific. Mr Gibney was decapitated because he was driving so fast that when he attempted to brake on seeing an oncoming vehicle his motorbike stopped, but his head didn't.
Mr Gibney was driving at very high speeds on the B5105. As anybody who has driven in Wales knows our A roads are not suited to high speeds, never mind the B roads. Yet Mr Gibney decided, of his own volition, to drive at a very high speed, reckless of his own fate or the fate of other road users on a twisting, rural Welsh B road. He died as a result of his own reckless stupidity.
Mr Gibney's driving was described by the Coroner in his inquest as reprehensible. Mr Gibney had no licence, no insurance, no training and his motorcycle had a false number plate. When he died Mr Gibney was wearing a tee-shirt that showed his total contempt for the law and the safety of other road users that the law attempts to protect. His tee-shirt displayed the (untrue) slogan :
HELLO OFFICER
YES MY CAN IS E MARKED
YES MY NUMBER PLATE IS LEGAL (No! It wasn’t)
YES MY TYRES HAVE TREAD
NOW PISS OFF
AND CATCH SOME
REAL CRIMINALS.
Mr Gibney, clearly didn't think that driving on a B road at high speed without any concern for other road users, or for his own safety, was a serious criminal act.
Mr Gibney's family have the audacity to complain about Chief Constable Brunstrom using Mr Gibney as an example of the horrific consequences of dangerous driving. If they can't see that Gibney is the perfect example of stupid attitudes to macho biking they must be in denial of reality!
If, God forbid, a member of my family was caught up in such horrific circumstances, I would want that family member to be used as an example to others, as a warning against such stupidity. The fact that Mr Gibney's family are calling for the Chief Constable of north Wales to be sacked for drawing attention to the horrific consequences of abusing the road in the way that Mr Gibney abused it, and that certain MPs are supporting the family's view is beyond my comprehension
Agree with you 100% Alwyn. The families should look at themselves if they want someone to blame.
ReplyDeleteU wanna shut ur trap u won't put ya name will yea ey shit bag. The papers,the police,the news don't give full story mark left a wife 2kids. So y r they to blame mark was like family to me so u wanna act big gob on here come say it to my face!!! R.I.P mark miss ya xx
DeleteI think that Mr Brunstrom was insensitive. However, to call for his resignation is completely unfair. He has done a good job of making road within his area safer. All types of vehicles are killing machines. A great segment of society is ignorant of this. They need to be educated. Surprised by Elfyn Llwyd's call for his resignation.
ReplyDeleteYou fucking dopey sod, Twathead Brunstrom's offence and crime wasn't against Mr Gibney (althought it matters not one bit who the hell's corpse you parade infront of the media without any kind of consent, you just shouldn't do it). Brunstrom perpetrated a crime against Mr Gibney's memory and against his family. Brunstrom is a lunatic, he is deliberately incompetent and lets his illogical hatred of motorists and cars (one of the most powerful forces for individual empowerment, transport and the economy as well as an amazing tool for policing)dominate his leadership and his judgment in the place of respect for the public and need to stop crime. Woe betide you if you get raped or robbed in North Wales, but if you breach some arbitrary national estimated appropriate speed it's your arse.
ReplyDeleteWow. Up against some pretty challenging opposition, I think NWR is in with a shout for the most raving, value-free contribution to the Welsh blogosphere in 2007.
ReplyDeleteAlways good to see such a high level of discourse...
hey nwr - i don't quite get why you're upset about Brunstrom showing the Gibney photo without permission ..... whose permission exactly ... I guess you mean the family but why should they have yea or nay rights ... I thought you were some kind of libertarian next thing you'll be saying that there IS such a thing as society ... nwr my arse, nwl more like.
ReplyDeleteFirstly Brunstrom works for the taxpayer and was able to obtain the photos because he works for the police. The photos were taken for police purposes, not for Brunstrom's private scaremongering. He would not have had access to them had he not been a police officer (a shit one but a copper all the same) and he used them for his own voyeuristic purposes. He grossly abused his position and he should be replaced with someone with an idea of proportion ("Rapists worse than drivers? You what?").
ReplyDeleteBrunstorm's job is to keep the rads safe. He used an insensitive way to do that - but death's like that - insensitive.
ReplyDeleteWhat's Elfyn Llwyd's game? Prefere to see more deaths and then some idot say, 'oh, if only In knew driving so fast could cause a death I wouldn't have done it.'
I see that Brunstrom has apologized. Good. Now we can have closure on this matter.
ReplyDeleteThis want done in an open forum Thanks Alwyn for putting some facts forward
ReplyDeleteNWR intemperate comments detract from your views.
I think Mt Brunstrom has been vilified enough.May be some guidelines on the use of police photos would have avoided this
The Gibney family seem to enjoy the spotlight
The most common cause of death of Welsh women aged between 15 and 25is their boyfriend's driving. NWR is a sixth form school student, his attitude towards road safety shows why such an horrific statistic exists.
ReplyDeleteAs it happens north Wales Police force's record in clearing up serious crime is amongst the best in England and Wales. So the comment that catching speeding motorists has a higher priority in north Wales than catching rapists and murderers has no basis in fact.
One might have sympathy with a person who is caught doing 76 MPH on the A55 and gets a £60 fine and 3 points, but this wasn't the case in the Gibbney accident. Mr Gibbney was driving at 110 mph on a B road. Two young men were permanently disabled as a result of the crash; they were lucky to live. If a child or an older person had been in the car they would have died.
In my estimation using a motor vehicle as a lethal weapon is as serious a crime as using a gun as a lethal weapon, and being part of the "old Welsh right" I believe that such behaviour should be abhorred and that those who commit such crimes should be locked away in a place where they have no access to the roads for a very long time.
Well said Alwyn
ReplyDeleteWhat about the part of the Press in all this?
Is it true that Gibney was not names at that meeting but one of the low lifes went out of their way to identify him and splash it all over the papers.
if so, it's absolutely astonishing that people think it's Brainstroms fault alone.
All those press scum present should be named and asked "Did you chase this story?"
Thing is, who would you publish it for the masses to see.
Certainly not the 2axe to grind2 dickheads in the Daily Post.
Masses don't read that comic.
That 'lawyer' that was trundled out to plead grievances for 'the family'. Another example of a reviled species of subhumanity.
Arright there mate going for some compo soon are yer. G'd on yer Whacker.