Tougher sentencing for road crimes back on agenda
After years of lobbying for tougher sentences for road crimes, Leeds North West MP Greg Mulholland has told Radio Aire the issue could finally be back on the agenda in parliament.
Mr Mulholland has secured a meeting with the Ministry of Justice, where he will push for a shake-up of sentencing guidelines.
“When people behave like that behind the wheel of a car, they are behind the wheel of a lethal weapon and that needs to be recognised,” he says.
“When there is such flagrant disregard for human life, that has to be properly dealt with.
"Just because someone is in a car, doesn’t mean that should not be the case, and those are the kinds of changes we are calling for.
“The reality is that too many judges in these cases seem to be unduly lenient in a dangerous driving case.”
At the centre of the campaign is 17-year-old Rebecca Still, who lost her 16-year-old brother Jamie to a drunk and speeding driver five years ago.
"It was New Years Eve in 2010," says Rebecca. "He just went out to pick up some prawn crackers because we were celebrating. And then my mum got a call from his friend to say he'd been knocked over. He died that night."
The driver who hit him didn't lose his license until eight months after the incident, when he was sentenced to four years in prison for causing death by dangerous driving.
Rebecca began the Jamie Still Campaign in his memory and started a petition to lobby parliament for stiffer sentencing guidelines. In 2013, that petition was taken to Downing Street with more than 13,000 signatures.
"The tragedy happened in December and the first hearing was in August, which is when he lost his driving license," says Rebecca.
"He got a five year driving ban, which started the day he went to prison.
"It happens so often, and I think if we had tougher laws it would deter people. The driver who killed my brother got a year off for being young because he was 21 but he was still five years older than my brother. He apparently showed remorse but he didn't to my family, only to the judge. So there really is no justice and things need to change.
"My mum actually suffers from post traumatic stress disorder from watching it happen because she went down to the scene and then was in the operating theatre with him. My dad is a fireman so he still has to go to accidents and sees it all the time. His friends who watched it happen have really suffered. One attempted suicide. So it's not just one life, it could have been many more."
Rebecca and Mr Mulholland have given their backing to a similar campaign running in Manchester by Radio Aire's sister station Key 103.2.
Justice for Joseph was set up in memory of 25-year-old Joseph Brown-Lartey who was killed in November 2014 when a driver sped through a red light and split his car in two.
The 18-year-old driver pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, dangerous driving, driving while unlicensed and driving while uninsured, and was sentenced to six years.
The Attorney General was asked to launch a review on the grounds that it was unduly lenient, but no further action was taken due to the sentence falling within the current guidelines.
In March 2015 Mr Mulholland submitted a manifesto to the Government asking for a number of changes to be made to the current guidelines.
He is now due to sit down with other MPs and the Ministry of Justice to look at how to proceed with the issue.
To read more about Joseph's story and sign our petition click HERE.
To read more about the Jamie Still Campaign, click HERE.