A British tourist who was facing jail in the US over a wrong-way crash which critically injured two children has walked free from court – infuriating the family injured in the smash.
Thomas Robb, 22, pleaded guilty to 11 felony charges and was sentenced to one year in jail yesterday – but was immediately released due to time served.
Robb ran off from the scene of the July 30 2022 smash-up in Rockland County, US, which left Jacquelyn Pachay’s sons with brain damage and broken bones. One was in hospital for nearly a year.
Prosecutors say he used his twin brother’s passport to board a flight to London to flee the country and was eventually extradited back to the United States in January.
Speaking for the first time since he walked free yesterday, Pachay, 35, called his sentence ‘a slap on the wrist’ which she feels fails to account for her children’s lifelong injuries.
Outside Rockland County Court House she called for tougher penalties for reckless drivers, especially foreign nationals.
‘The injuries my children suffered were not accounted for,’ she said.
‘I feel like the justice system isn’t so much justice – it depends on who you know and who you are.
The near-fatal crash left Jacquelyn Pachay’s sons with brain damage and broken bones
The mother said Robb’s sentence was ‘a slap on the wrist’ which she feels fails to account for her children’s lifelong injuries
Thomas Robb (pictured) pleaded guilty to 11 felony charges and was sentenced to one year in jail yesterday – but was immediately released due to time served
In July 2022, Robb drove a BMW SUV the wrong way down North Greenbush Road and onto Route 303, in Blauvelt, New York, into oncoming traffic
‘I can’t show frustration because I still have to go home and be a mother.’
In July 2022, Robb drove a BMW SUV the wrong way down North Greenbush Road and onto Route 303, in Blauvelt, New York, into oncoming traffic, striking two vehicles.
Reports said he reached speeds up to 60 mph.
Pachay and her four children – then aged three, six, seven, and four months – were in one of the cars.
Her eldest son suffered two broken femurs.
Her six-year-old was in a coma for 11 days and hospitalized for nearly a year.
The three-year-old, who is autistic, had a punctured liver and multiple bruises, she said.
Rockland County District Attorney’s Office said Robb exited his vehicle and immediately fled the scene without displaying a license or any identification.
‘He was apprehended nearby by a police officer from the Town of Orangetown Police Department,’ a spokesperson said, and remanded to the Rockland County Jail on $25,000 bail, which was posted the next day, and he was released.
The DA’s office said ‘upon information and belief, the defendant utilized his twin brother’s passport’ to board a flight from the Baltimore/Thurgood Marshall Airport in Maryland to London, on August 2, 2022.
He was extradited back to the US in January this year and pleaded guilty to 11 charges.
He was extradited back to the US in January this year and pleaded guilty to 11 charges
Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Walsh recommended a sentence of two years in state prison, though Robb was only given one year in prison
The charges include three counts of second degree assault, three counts of leaving the scene of an incident without reporting as a felony, two counts of third degree assault, two counts of leaving the scene of an incident without reporting, and one count of reckless driving.
At the time of his sentencing, the District Attorney’s Office recommended a sentence of two years in state prison.
Pachay, a behavioral therapist from Newark, said her children face lasting effects, physically and emotionally, and the family continues to struggle financially.
‘I think I was more so in a state of shock that someone just hit me from the exit,’ she recalled of the crash, which fractured her wrist.
‘I thought the car was going to blow up, the doors were locked, they wouldn’t even open,’ she said, describing how she calmed herself to get the children to safety.
‘Thank God people stopped and got us out.’
She says her 10-year-old son still struggles with basic tasks.
‘He had to learn how to walk again,’ she said. ‘It’s an ongoing issue. He doesn’t even participate in school.
‘As a 10-year-old you want to do 10-year-old things, but you’re limited because someone came in the exit.’
The pain is deepened by what Pachay sees as a lack of accountability.
‘He fled the scene and fled on bail. There are a lot of second chances there.’
‘I want him to be a little bit more remorseful,’ Pachay added.
‘I think we should put more time on reckless driving and also take away license suspension, passports – everything.
‘Especially drivers who come from out of the country and rent cars.’
As for her sons, Pachay says their future has changed courses.
‘What I’ve hoped for my sons’ future, that’s not going to be their future now,’ she said.
‘They’ve always asked to be basketball players and football players. Now they can’t do that.’
She added: ‘I hope they get to live peacefully and learn to forgive, but we’re still trying our best to go back to normalizing life.’
He pleaded guilty in March.
Rockland County Judge Kevin Russo sentenced Robb yesterday to one year in jail, which he had already completed while waiting for proceedings to finish, allowing him to be released from jail.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .