Monday, 27 August 2012

Alf Filer's killer jailed for drunk driving

Alf with  students defending  the Harrow Mosque from the EDL in 2009
 The man responsible for the death of Alf Filer,  local activist in Brent, member of Brent Fightback and a lecturer at Harrow College before he moved to Worthing, has been jailed for drunk driving. Alf is greatly missed and often crops up in our conversations. If he was still alive he would be in the forefront of the current battles against cuts and austerity.

Here is the item as carried by the BBC:
A drink-driver has been jailed for six years for killing a man who was standing by his broken down car in East Sussex.

Joseph Lavelle, 36, of Worthing, West Sussex was two-and-a-half times over the drink-drive limit when he hit Alf Filer, 58, on the A27 in Hangleton. 

He was jailed at Lewes Crown Court having admitted death by careless driving under the influence of alcohol.

The painter was also banned from driving for five years, police said. 

Mr Filer, also from Worthing, died at the scene on 23 June last year.

The political activist and former lecturer had only moved into the area from London in the past year.
Sgt Neil Walker, from Sussex Police, said: "This is another tragic example of the way in which drink-driving wrecks lives. This terrible incident has robbed a family and the community of a well-respected and much-loved man."
at

2 comments:

  1. trevor15 September 2012 at 12:01

    selling tobacco in Britain should be made a criminal offence
    but that would mean the government would have to care about the people it is meant to serve...I think they are way too corrupt and selfish to do that...not for us...they are willing rip us off by means of the expenses scandal but they don't want to protect us by banning smoking because by seducing us into ruining our health and lives, this is how they build up this country.
    and to think they address each other as honorable ladies and gentlemen and yet what they do and permit is far from honorable.
    people should of course be responsible and avoid driving while under the influence of alcohol but what is the point in having a law that only protects us from drunk drivers but leaves us open to the destructive influence of shopkeepers who sell tobacco which damages lives just as driving cars while under the influence of alcohol also damages lives.
    I don't think Joesph Lavelle Intended to Knock Mr Filer Down causing him to die but his Jugdment was seriously impaired due to the influence of alcohol.
    likewise a unjust law that says it is ok to knowingly sell something that damages health
    impairs good jugdment and So I say that it is not just Drivers that drive while under the influence of alcohol, are a threat to the public, but it is also the unjust laws in this country that put us in constant danger.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ted Lyon11 November 2012 at 00:09

    So sad, thoughts go to his family.
    there are too many deaths by drunk driving. Infact 1 is too many.

    ReplyDelete