Killer driver free after just 4 years

A businessman whose wife died in a horrific road accident says he's devastated by the early release of the man responsible. Mike McKenzie was left to raise his three children alone after George Forbes ploughed head-on into his wife Janice's car on the old Thanet Way.

Forbes, who was more than four times over the legal alcohol limit, was jailed for eight years for causing death by dangerous driving in August 2007, but was released on Tuesday, four years early.

Mr McKenzie, who runs furniture company Spacemaster Kent, said he was shocked by the early release. He arrived on the scene moments after the crash. He recalled:

"It was a hugely traumatic evening for us. After my wife Jan didn't turn up in the evening, myself and our three children went to look for her. We arrived at the crash not long after it happened, with my wife's body still in the vehicle. George Forbes had a history of dangerous driving, and now he's being released after just four years to come and live in Whitstable. Myself and my children – Paul, Donna and Scott – are going be forced to cross paths with the man who took their mother and my wife away; a man who has never expressed remorse or apologised."

Mr McKenzie, who was married to his wife for 34 years, said at the time of the court hearing that she hadn't died in vain. He told the Times in 2007 that if her life was lost to keep Forbes off the road, then that was her final sacrifice. Four other cars were involved in the pile-up. A boy aged 7 and an 11-week-old baby girl were also taken to hospital.

Richard Willingham, then Canterbury fire station manager, described being met with a "scene of devastation". He said at the time: "It was a particularly awful and challenging incident."

HB Times 22nd Jul 2011