AFTER speaking to Daniel Crisp and his father, David, it is clear the whole family have suffered greatly following the tragic events of November 29 last year.

As I said last week, Daniel should not have left the scene of the accident, we cannot turn back time and neither can we bring back Paul Powell.

But today Daniel Crisp says he is scared for his life. Those who have thrown things, spat at, called names and shouted abuse at the Crisp family have, I believe, not heard the full story, or listened to Daniel’s defence.

Daniel has lost his job, girlfriend, driving licence and friends. He will spend the rest of his life living with the mistake he made, and rightly so.

It is not the job of members of the public to administer justice. Instead efforts should be aimed at our legal system to make sure punishments do enough to discourage the cowardly crime of hit-and-run. In this situation an old addage rings truer than ever – two wrongs don’t make a right.

Anyone who drives a car risks an accident and no-one knows exactly how they will react in such a terrible situation, unless it happens to them.

But what is clear after speaking to Daniel and his family is that he is serving more than the sentence given to him by the courts.

JOHN HIGGINSON