West Norfolk woman will "fight for the rest of her life" after losing family to dangerous driving
Summer Mace's mum, sister and step-dad died in January on the A47- after being hit by a vehicle going at 96mph
A woman living in West Norfolk says "she'll fight for the rest of her life" after losing three members of her family to dangerous driving.
Summer Mace's mum, sister and step-dad died in January on the A47- after being hit by a vehicle going at 96mph - driven by Aurelijus Cielevicius, 39, from King's Lynn.
Cielevicius pleaded guilty to causing their deaths by dangerous driving was sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison, in June.
He was found to be under the influence of a "cocktail of drugs" before the collision.
"Nobody should have to go through what we've been through"
Summer Mace, who lives in King's Lynn, has started a petition for her cause and will soon be meeting with the Solicitor General - one of the Government's top legal officers - to urge him to help ensure that those convicted of dangerous driving receive tougher sentences and conditions.
She told us: "I will fight for the rest of my life to try and get justice. Not just for my family but also for others and for a better justice system. Nobody should have to go through what we've been through.
"We are not numbers. We are not statistics. The people who are dying aren't numbers or statistics, either. We are human-beings and we need to be treated as such. It's not okay to be the ones who always feel like we need to fight.
"My life will never be the same. My life has been completely destroyed. I lost the three of them and also lost my home, as I lived with them. I then had to re-home animals and sort their possessions.
"Everything is gone and all I can do is fight for them now."
What else is she calling for?
She also told us she'll also ask that judges be reminded they may now impose life sentences for death by dangerous driving, in addition to closer control of bail conditions, including greater use of electronic tagging to enforce curfews.
At the time of the crash, Cielevicius was on bail for a driving offence, and Ms Mace and her father Jason believe tagging could have prevented the crash which killed their family members.
Ministers will also be asked to consider revising sentencing guidelines, to ensure consecutive sentences are served in cases where multiple people have died by dangerous driving.
How did this meeting come about?
Her petition was raised in the House of Commons by James Wild, the MP for North West Norfolk, who told MPs: “Summer and her family cannot understand why the life sentence they have been dealt has not been imposed on this offender.”
He added: “Nothing will bring back Lisa Carter, Paul Carter or Jade Mace, but their families are committed to helping make changes to prevent other families from experiencing the nightmare that they have.”
Mr Tomlinson agreed to meet the family at Mr Wild’s request, and apologised for a mistake which indicated to Ms Mace that ministers did not pay close enough heed to the details of her family’s case.
In a letter explaining the reason for not granting an appeal, the Solicitor General referred to the original trial judge as “he”, when the judge was a woman.
“It was an error, it was my error, and I apologise. However, the case was carefully considered,” Mr Tomlinson told the Commons.
The Solicitor General also explained current sentencing guidelines for death by dangerous driving and commended Ms Mace and her family for their bravery.