A DRIVER who caused the death of a young Thornbury man in a crash has been jailed, after being caught behind the wheel within weeks of being banned.
When Michael Ronner was pulled over by police in Mangotsfield in July he told an officer he was still driving because he thought his ban was “harsh”.
But the judge who imposed the ban disagreed – and locked him up for a “deliberate and flagrant breach” of his suspended sentence.
Ronner, aged 40, had narrowly avoided prison after he admitted causing the death of Tyler Carley in a crash on the Avon Ring Road near Mangotsfield in December 2023.
Tyler, who was 20, was a passenger in the DAF scaffolding lorry Ronner was driving and died at the scene.
The other passenger, Cameron Williams, from Downend, survived and pulled Ronner from the cab – but later took his own life as a result of the psychological trauma he suffered in the crash.
At Bristol Crown Court in June a judge told Ronner the right sentence for causing Tyler’s death by careless driving was six months’ imprisonment – but a change in the law, brought in a few days before his guilty plea, meant the sentence had to be suspended.
He was also disqualified from driving for 18 months.
Yesterday Ronner, of Courtney Road, Kingswood, was back in court in front of the same judge after being caught breaching the ban and suspended sentence.
Christine Hart, prosecuting, said a police officer saw Ronner driving a Mercedes X350 four-wheel drive pickup on July 22 – just 47 days into the driving ban.
The officer, PC Dan Hamblin, had attended the fatal crash on the A4174 and recognised Ronner as he got into the truck.
He followed the car and pulled it over on Pomphrey Hill, and Ronner identified himself and admitted that he was disqualified from driving.
‘He thought ban was harsh’
Miss Hart said: “He told the officer he thought the disqualification was harsh and that he didn’t do anything wrong.”
Ronner was reported for driving while disqualified and admitted the offence at a hearing in August.
The court heard he is facing a further charge of driving while disqualified at Bath Magistrates Court, which he has denied: he faces a trial in April next year.
Defending, Francesca Chaplin said: “The explanation that Mr Ronner has given for driving on that day was that his dog had been injured and he had gone out to get treatment for the dog.”
She said Ronner had “reflected” on the comment he made to PC Hamblin and “has expressed remorse about it”.
The court also heard Ronner had not attended all of the unpaid work sessions imposed as part of his suspended sentence.
‘Deliberate and flagrant’
Judge Edward Burgess told Ronner the six-month suspended sentence will be activated in full, with another two months added for the new offence, making a total of eight months imprisonment.
The judge also added another 18 months to the unexpired part of Ronner’s existing driving ban, meaning that he is now disqualified for 31 months.
Judge Burgess said the earlier suspended sentence had been imposed on the basis that the fatal crash had been the result of a “momentary lapse of concentration”.
The judge said: “However, just 47 days after I passed sentence upon you, you were behind the wheel of a vehicle again.
“In my judgement it’s a telling fact that you believed your disqualification was harsh.
“There’s no justification for your driving on that occasion.
“Frankly, it’s hard to think of a more deliberate and flagrant breach than that.
“Your comment is an illuminative one with regards to your attitudes at the time, wholly at odds with your previous expressions of regret for what happened in December 2023.”
‘No remorse’
Afterwards, Tyler’s mother Gemma Showering said: “After his suspended sentence I said we would be back in court, but I’m shocked it was this soon, and how again he has shown no remorse.
“His words when caught driving, that he thinks he hasn’t done anything wrong, show he will never accept he was the one who killed Tyler.”
Tyler’s dad Mark believes Ronner should have been sentenced for the original offence using the rules that were in place when it happened – which would have seen him jailed for causing Tyler’s death.
Mark said: “This could all have been avoided if he’d gone to prison back in June.
“We wouldn’t have had to waste everyone’s time, heartache and taxpayers’ money, if the justice system was doing what it’s there for – keeping the general public safe by having people like that off the streets.
“He was jailed two years and 11 months to the day that Tyler passed away.
!Over that time I feel terribly let down by the British justice system.
“It doesn’t work for the victim or their family, it just seems to be that the courts and barristers and judges do everything to not put people in prison.”
Mark said that, despite claims in court that he felt remorse, Ronner had never once said sorry to any member of Tyler’s family.
He said: “I don’t feel any better knowing he’s gone inside – we’ll be lucky if he does Christmas and New Year in there.”
PC Hamblin said: “Having attended that awful collision in 2023, I was very aware that he had recently been banned from driving. To see him behind the wheel of a car just a few weeks later was beyond frustrating.
“To then hear him describe his disqualification from driving as ‘harsh’ shows a complete lack of understanding of the impact of his decisions and a lack of appreciation for the responsibilities he has when behind the wheel.”
Family liaison officer PC Martin Higgins said: “Tyler’s family have had to endure not only the loss of a much-loved family member, but also Michael Ronner’s reluctance to take responsibility for his actions until the last minute and showing no remorse.
“His sentence will hopefully allow him some time to reflect on the devastation his actions have caused.
“I would like to thank Tyler’s family for the fortitude and dignity they have displayed over the last three years with numerous trips to court, to see justice served.
“I would also like to remember Cameron Williams, who was with Tyler on the day he died, and is no longer with us.”