He was 32 years old and leaves a distraught wife and two small children whose lives have been torn apart.

He also leaves us parents, a sister, brother-in-law and nephew who love him beyond words and are all still devastated and struggling to come to terms with it. Matthew was travelling along the A149 at Castle Rising on his Aprilia. Visibility was good, he was not speeding, his light was on and he was in the correct position. This though was not enough to stop a woman pulling directly across his path, leaving him no chance to break and killing him. She only had minor scratches and bruises.

We have maintained a dignified silence during the18 months of legal proceedings and the woman's subsequent Sentencing of 120 hours community service and a 2 year driving ban with no re-test and no driver’s awareness course.

We understand this was an accident. She did not wake up and think I am going to kill someone today, however this woman now believes she is a victim and seems to think this is too harsh a price to pay for our son’s life and appealed for a reduction in her driving ban. It would seem not having a driving licence is an inconvenience to her. She puts so little value on his life that it is too much for her to stay off the road for 24 months. At least after this period she will be mobile again.

We feel this is totally disrespectful to Matthew's memory and adds indescribable insult to injury.

This absolute lack of remorse is beyond belief. Surely the decent thing to do is to accept the punishment given with dignity and give the family some peace to try to gradually rebuild their lives without being dragged to court yet again! You can read more on the Justice for Matthew Thompson facebook page.

The appeal was held on 1st August. After much deliberation, guidance from the judge and two painful adjournments in which to consider her actions after being advised she could possibly incur an increase in her sentence, Mrs. Maureen Haller decided to abandon her self-funded appeal and accept her original punishment of a two year driving ban. She didn’t do the decent thing but just accepted, after two long hours, that she would prefer this to the alternative of being given a harsher punishment.

We have started two independent petitions. One is an e-petition which can be signed by going to http:// epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions and filling out the Matthew Thompson e-petition. You can use your email address twice so if you know anyone who is not on the internet you can register a signature for them. The Govt. will then send you a confirmation email which you must open and click on the purple link otherwise your signature will not be registered. The other is a paper petition which we are hoping to lobby parliament with if we get 100,000 signatures.

We would like to change the law so that anyone found guilty of causing death by driving is given a mandatory loss of licence for a minimum of two years before they can re-sit a test and also have to take a driver’s awareness course as a minimum sentence with other penalties to be given within the legal parameters at the Judge’s discretion.

Thank you for reading this. We really would like to make a difference and stop others suffering as we have.

Sign now

Two Wheeled Nomad   

Santa Cruz, Copacabana, San Jose and Londres, translated to London – what do they all have in common? They’re all the names given to friendly little towns of dusty dwellings, doing their individual Argentinian ‘thing’, a world apart from their counterparts elsewhere on earth. Most boasted tree lined central plazas bearing ripe oranges and one had a collection of trees whose trunks were patriotically painted in Argentinian flag colours – blue and white. Heat shimmers rose off the road as we rode through all the aforementioned towns en route to Santa Maria, giving a dreamlike quality to our surroundings ahead.

Passing through Tinogasta was perhaps more memorable: it was akin to a waste disposal bin overflowing with litter; piles of plastic, used tyres and unwanted household items strewn about everywhere. Pretty this place was not. Around a corner, a snarling Alsatian flung itself towards Pearl and me. The pair of us was a split second away from being grappled by a voracious dog suffering clear anger management issues and sporting a love for wrestling moving motorcycles. I opened Pearl up and off we shot, just out of reach from the mongrel’s gaping maw. Phew. Yards down the street saw a bunch of ragtag lads charging on their mopeds, some being lairy wolf-whistling louts, others paying no one else any mind. A rowdy duo ‘two up’ in particular made me chuckle as the rider beamed a dashing smile my way and waved wildly, while the pillion gave me the finger. At least the motorcyclist was a decent chap!

Read more here

The fastest man ever around the famous Isle of Man "Mountain Course", New Zealand's Bruce Anstey will be teaming up with fellow Kiwi Ken McIntosh for a second attempt at the Classic TT presented by Bennetts on August 23rd.

Nine times TT winner Anstey was lying second last year in the inaugural Senior Classic TT when a piston failure caused his retirement on the second lap of the four lap race.

In June this year Bruce Anstey entered the history books when he became the first man ever to top 132mph average for a lap.

Last year Anstey rode a Classic bike for the very first time and was amazed at how precise the steering was. He commented that he had to re-learn all his old "250" lines where you used every inch of the road, and sometimes more! "He wouldn't let me change any of the setting on the 'Featherbed' Manx" said McIntosh.

With previous riders Kevin Schwantz, Cameron Donald and Andrew Stroud all winning races on the bike the setup was already well established for shorter circuits but it also proved to be good on the many jumps and high speed corners on the TT course as well.

This year McIntosh will return with two identical models of his New Zealand built 1962 Manx Norton replicas for Anstey, so that the race bike is still fresh at the end of qualifying, giving Bruce his best chance of a finish.

McIntosh said "It was a major blow to be the fastest single cylinder bike in all the practices and never miss a beat all week and then fail to finish when lying in second place. We had to come back and give our New Zealand built bike another chance to live up to its 'Manx' Norton name."

Bruce Anstey will be competing for the Mike Hailwood Trophy awarded for 500cc single cylinder machines using a machine that is essentially true to 1962 specification against the much later pre-1973 period multi-cylinder bikes, but "with Bruce's speed and the fickle nature of true 'TT' racing he is certainly in with a chance of an overall podium finish" says McIntosh. "Mike Hailwood lived in New Zealand when he retired from racing the first time so there is a special Hailwood connection there."

Tickets are now on sale and selling fast for the 2014 Classic TT Races presented by Bennetts. VIP experiences, Grandstand tickets, Classic TT Heroes Dinner and Classic TT Party tickets can be purchased from www.iomtt.com or by phoning 00 44 (0)1624 640000.

The 40th annual Gloucestershire Steam & Vintage Extravaganza took place at South Cerney Airfield, Cirencester on Friday 1st thru to Sunday 3rd August 2014 and was hailed a huge success. 8,000 visitors flocked through the gate on Sunday alone, making it the best attended day in the events 40 year history. Numbers were naturally down on Friday and Sunday due to the tropical wet weather conditions. The show saw approximately 12,000 visitors throughout the weekend and raised money for both local and national charities including the Cobalt Appeal Fund, Diabetes UK and Anne Edwards School, South Cerney and many others.

The show is organised by The Stroud Vintage Transport and Engine Club and is the biggest event of its kind ran entirely by volunteers, and would not be able to take place without the huge support of the dedicated section leaders, exhibitors, volunteers and visitors. Since moving from its existing site at Kemble Airfield in 2011 to South Cerney Airfield, the show has grown considerably and is widely regarded as one of the biggest and best Steam, Vintage vehicle and Country event in the UK.

The 2014 Gloucestershire Steam & Vintage Extravaganza boasted a huge array of exhibits including, a countryside arena, dog show, falconry display, aerobatics display, vintage fairground, Wall of Death, hundreds of stalls and even an air display. This year saw 80 steam engines, 400 classic cars, 180 classic tractors, 100 vintage cycles, 220 classic motorcycles, 60 vintage buses, emergency vehicles, 70 military vehicles, model aircraft, radio controlled planes, caravans, traction engines and one of the largest gathering of commercial vehicles in the UK, plus a world record number of auto trucks in attendance.

Martyn Slater, Chairman of the show and the Stroud Vintage Transport and Engine Club, said: “We are thrilled with the turnout of both exhibitors and visitors over the weekend and are very grateful to our team of volunteers, section leaders and the local community for their support and for making it such a success. As well as raising money for local and national charities, the aim of the event has always been to provide a safe and happy environment for everyone to celebrate our unique transport heritage, in hope that we can inspire future generations to get involved in the preservation of historic vehicles and living history. The sheer scale of the show means that there is always something new to see. We always strive each year to make the show even bigger and better with the quality, quantity and array of historic displays and dioramas. This year we have already received fabulous feedback, many hailing it as the best yet.”

Martyn Slater continued “We apologise for the inconvenience on Sunday with the congestion, caused not only be the record number of visitors to the show, but nearby roadworks, traffic diversions and an abnormal wide-load vehicle passing through the area at the peak show entry time added to the high volume of traffic and delays.”

The show would welcome your feedback, and pictures. If you have any feedback in regards to the event, or would like to be involved in 2015, please contact Martyn Slater the Chairman of the Stroud Vintage Transport and Engine Club via email: [email protected]

Plans are already underway for next year’s show, which will take place on the weekend of 31st July – 2nd August 2015.

Here are just a few of the many comments we have received today from show visitors:

Dave Lester ‘A brilliant show, second to none, The best so far’

Graham Chrimes ‘Absolutely fantastic event, the weather really helped on the Sunday. As an avid photographer of Heritage and Vintage vehicles, the range and amount of exhibits was second to none. The family atmosphere was great, this was my favourite event of the year. Well done to all involved’

Sam O’Brian ‘Thanks to all involved for a great day, amazing effort from all of the exhibitors and a large handy food tent for when the rain got too much on Saturday - brilliant fun had by all the family’

Steve Tyrell ‘What a Cracking weekend we have just had, well done guys you have a great show, something for everyone. Our Family had a really great time and look forward to next year. Great Job!’

Beryl Varnam ‘A huge success! Well done to all the organisers and exhibitors. Congratulations on yet another fantastic show!’

Shar Rose Angel ‘Thanks you for a great weekend, we will definitely be back next year, it’s the best steam fair by far!’

The Gloucestershire Steam & Vintage Show is organised by The Stroud Vintage Transport & Engine Club. The Clubs objective is to increase knowledge and interest in all types of aspects of classic and vintage vehicles, their heritage and preservation. Membership to the club is open to all, subscriptions are annual and costs JUST £10 per household (family), under 18 year olds are FREE. Membership includes: exclusive day trips, with the opportunity to visit rare and exclusive collections and museums, have passenger rides in historic vehicles, receive regular e-Newsletters and meet socially with like-minded people.

Ace Cafe London presence at the 2nd annual Isle of Man Classic TT, located at the heart of the action at Grandstand, runs from Practise Week, through the holiday weekend of Classic TT, and remains in place until the end of the 91st annual Manx Grand Prix.

Starting on Friday 23rd August, this years Classic TT includes with new trophies names after four of the greatest riders in TT history - Joey Dunlop OBE (26 wins), Geoff Duke OBE (6 wins), Mike Hailwood MBE (14 wins) and Phil Read MBE (8 wins), having accumulated 54 TT race victories between them!

A stunning collection of Joey Dunlop race machines will be exhibited in the race paddock and amongst bikes displayed by the Ace will be, courtesy of owner Frank Jones, a 1969 Triumph T120 Thruxton rebuilt in 2009 by George Hopwood, with an engine built to the specification of that used by the Triumph Factory race bikes and as ridden by Malcolm Uphill to victory in 1969, winning the Isle of Man Production TT a an average speed of 99.99mph, being the first to achieve the 100mph lap!

The Classic TT celebrates the history of TT and motorcycle racing, and provides the centre piece of the new Isle of Man Festival of Motorcycling, alongside the Manx Grand Prix, as well as two of Britain's biggest off-road events and the ever popular VMCC Rally.

See you on the island!

www.iomtt.com

www.ace-cafe-london.com