logo
Driver jailed for death of man who fell off bonnet on Isle of Man

Driver jailed for death of man who fell off bonnet on Isle of Man

BBC News24-02-2025

A man who accelerated before braking sharply while a 29-year-old man was on his car bonnet causing him fatal injuries has been jailed for six years.Jackson Paul, 35, was found guilty after a trial of causing death by dangerous driving of Jordan Thomas who came off the front of his black BMW on 25 February 2024.Mr Thomas had climbed onto the car and punched the windscreen when Paul accelerated to more than 30mph (48km/h) on Harbour Road in Onchan before braking.Deemster Graeme Cook said no sentence passed could "ever value Jordan Thomas's life" or diminish his family's "profound loss or anguish".
Douglas Courthouse previously heard that Paul had been out for a drive with his flatmate when Mr Thomas got onto the bonnet of his car when he was making his way along Harbour Road.The 29-year-old had climbed onto the bonnet and pulled at the windscreen wipers, breaking one off, before punching the glass twice.The court was told Paul initially reversed the vehicle before stopping, accelerating forward and braking sharply, which "propelled" Mr Thomas off the car.He died nine days later in Aintree Hospital in Liverpool.Deemster Cook told the court Paul "must have foreseen" that Mr Thomas would be injured when he drove in the way that he did, and while he found the speed was not a causative factor to the death it had been dangerous.When interviewed by police and giving evidence the trial, Paul said he thought the car was in reverse when it launched forward. But the deemster said he rejected that, and accelerating up through three gear changes in the automatic car over a distance of up to 60m (197ft) with Mr Thomas on the bonnet and then braking sharply was "clearly dangerous"."This was in my view of the evidence a most obvious case of dangerous driving causing the tragic death of Jordan Thomas," he said.However, Deemster Cook found that Mr Thomas's own actions had contributed "significantly to his death", as "had he not got onto the bonnet, the tragedy would not have occurred".In a victim impact statement read to the court the 29-year-old's mother Savina Thomas said her son had a "fascinating brain", a "superb personality" and liked to help others. Grief had "struck down a whole family that Jordan was the main character in", which she said matched the size of his "massive heart that touched so many"."Our boy has gone forever, no more dreams or grandchildren," she said.Paul has been disqualified from driving for eight years, and will have to take an extended driving test before he can drive again after his release.
Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Rapper Silento sentenced to 30 years for shooting cousin to death
Rapper Silento sentenced to 30 years for shooting cousin to death

North Wales Chronicle

time2 hours ago

  • North Wales Chronicle

Rapper Silento sentenced to 30 years for shooting cousin to death

The 27-year-old, known for his hit song, Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae), pleaded guilty but mentally ill on Wednesday to voluntary manslaughter and other charges in the shooting of his 34-year-old cousin. Silento, whose legal name is Ricky Lamar Hawk, was sentenced to 30 years in prison, DeKalb County district attorney Sherry Boston said in a statement. Hawk also pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, possessing a gun while committing a crime and concealing the death of another. A murder charge was dropped as part of the plea agreement. DeKalb County police found Frederick Rooks III shot in the leg and face in the early morning hours of January 21 2021 outside a home in a suburban area near Decatur. Police said they found 10 bullet casings near Mr Rooks' body, and security video from a nearby home showed a white BMW SUV speeding away shortly after the gunshots. A family member of Mr Rooks told police that Silento had picked up his cousin in a white BMW SUV, and GPS data and other cameras put the vehicle at the site of the shooting. Silento confessed about 10 days later after he was arrested, police said. Ballistics testing matched the bullet casings to a gun that Silento had when he was arrested, authorities said. Mr Rooks' brothers and sisters told DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Courtney L Johnson before sentencing that Silento should have received a longer sentence, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The rapper was a high school junior in suburban Atlanta in 2015 when he released Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) and watched it skyrocket into a dance craze. Silento made multiple other albums, but said in an interview with the medical talk show, The Doctors, in 2019, that he struggled with depression and had grown up in a family where he witnessed mental illness and violence. 'I've been fighting demons my whole life, my whole life,' he said in 2019. 'Depression doesn't leave you when you become famous, it just adds more pressure,' Silento said then, urging others to get help. 'And while everybody's looking at you, they're also judging you.' 'I don't know if I can truly be happy, I don't know if these demons will ever go away.' Silento had been struggling in the months before the arrest. His publicist, Chanel Hudson, has said he had tried to kill himself in 2020. In August 2020, Silento was arrested in Santa Ana, California, on a domestic violence charge. The next day, the Los Angeles Police Department charged him with assault with a deadly weapon after witnesses said he entered a home where he did not know anyone looking for his girlfriend and swung a hatchet at two people before he was disarmed. In October 2020, Silento was arrested after police said they clocked him driving at 143 miles per hour on Interstate 85 in DeKalb County. Ms Hudson said at the time of Silento's arrest in the killing of Mr Rooks that he had been 'suffering immensely from a series of mental health illnesses'.

Rapper Silento sentenced to 30 years for shooting cousin to death
Rapper Silento sentenced to 30 years for shooting cousin to death

Rhyl Journal

time3 hours ago

  • Rhyl Journal

Rapper Silento sentenced to 30 years for shooting cousin to death

The 27-year-old, known for his hit song, Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae), pleaded guilty but mentally ill on Wednesday to voluntary manslaughter and other charges in the shooting of his 34-year-old cousin. Silento, whose legal name is Ricky Lamar Hawk, was sentenced to 30 years in prison, DeKalb County district attorney Sherry Boston said in a statement. Hawk also pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, possessing a gun while committing a crime and concealing the death of another. A murder charge was dropped as part of the plea agreement. DeKalb County police found Frederick Rooks III shot in the leg and face in the early morning hours of January 21 2021 outside a home in a suburban area near Decatur. Police said they found 10 bullet casings near Mr Rooks' body, and security video from a nearby home showed a white BMW SUV speeding away shortly after the gunshots. A family member of Mr Rooks told police that Silento had picked up his cousin in a white BMW SUV, and GPS data and other cameras put the vehicle at the site of the shooting. Silento confessed about 10 days later after he was arrested, police said. Ballistics testing matched the bullet casings to a gun that Silento had when he was arrested, authorities said. Mr Rooks' brothers and sisters told DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Courtney L Johnson before sentencing that Silento should have received a longer sentence, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The rapper was a high school junior in suburban Atlanta in 2015 when he released Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) and watched it skyrocket into a dance craze. Silento made multiple other albums, but said in an interview with the medical talk show, The Doctors, in 2019, that he struggled with depression and had grown up in a family where he witnessed mental illness and violence. 'I've been fighting demons my whole life, my whole life,' he said in 2019. 'Depression doesn't leave you when you become famous, it just adds more pressure,' Silento said then, urging others to get help. 'And while everybody's looking at you, they're also judging you.' 'I don't know if I can truly be happy, I don't know if these demons will ever go away.' Silento had been struggling in the months before the arrest. His publicist, Chanel Hudson, has said he had tried to kill himself in 2020. In August 2020, Silento was arrested in Santa Ana, California, on a domestic violence charge. The next day, the Los Angeles Police Department charged him with assault with a deadly weapon after witnesses said he entered a home where he did not know anyone looking for his girlfriend and swung a hatchet at two people before he was disarmed. In October 2020, Silento was arrested after police said they clocked him driving at 143 miles per hour on Interstate 85 in DeKalb County. Ms Hudson said at the time of Silento's arrest in the killing of Mr Rooks that he had been 'suffering immensely from a series of mental health illnesses'.

Rapper Silento sentenced to 30 years for shooting cousin to death
Rapper Silento sentenced to 30 years for shooting cousin to death

The Herald Scotland

time3 hours ago

  • The Herald Scotland

Rapper Silento sentenced to 30 years for shooting cousin to death

Silento, whose legal name is Ricky Lamar Hawk, was sentenced to 30 years in prison, DeKalb County district attorney Sherry Boston said in a statement. Hawk also pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, possessing a gun while committing a crime and concealing the death of another. A murder charge was dropped as part of the plea agreement. Rapper Silento achieved fame with his hit song Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) in 2015 (Drew Gurian/Invision/AP) DeKalb County police found Frederick Rooks III shot in the leg and face in the early morning hours of January 21 2021 outside a home in a suburban area near Decatur. Police said they found 10 bullet casings near Mr Rooks' body, and security video from a nearby home showed a white BMW SUV speeding away shortly after the gunshots. A family member of Mr Rooks told police that Silento had picked up his cousin in a white BMW SUV, and GPS data and other cameras put the vehicle at the site of the shooting. Silento confessed about 10 days later after he was arrested, police said. Ballistics testing matched the bullet casings to a gun that Silento had when he was arrested, authorities said. Mr Rooks' brothers and sisters told DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Courtney L Johnson before sentencing that Silento should have received a longer sentence, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The rapper was a high school junior in suburban Atlanta in 2015 when he released Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) and watched it skyrocket into a dance craze. Silento made multiple other albums, but said in an interview with the medical talk show, The Doctors, in 2019, that he struggled with depression and had grown up in a family where he witnessed mental illness and violence. 'I've been fighting demons my whole life, my whole life,' he said in 2019. 'Depression doesn't leave you when you become famous, it just adds more pressure,' Silento said then, urging others to get help. 'And while everybody's looking at you, they're also judging you.' 'I don't know if I can truly be happy, I don't know if these demons will ever go away.' Silento had been struggling in the months before the arrest. His publicist, Chanel Hudson, has said he had tried to kill himself in 2020. In August 2020, Silento was arrested in Santa Ana, California, on a domestic violence charge. The next day, the Los Angeles Police Department charged him with assault with a deadly weapon after witnesses said he entered a home where he did not know anyone looking for his girlfriend and swung a hatchet at two people before he was disarmed. In October 2020, Silento was arrested after police said they clocked him driving at 143 miles per hour on Interstate 85 in DeKalb County. Ms Hudson said at the time of Silento's arrest in the killing of Mr Rooks that he had been 'suffering immensely from a series of mental health illnesses'.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store