Families of bereaved welcome crackdown on killer drivers (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Families of bereaved welcome crackdown on killer drivers

10:50am Wednesday 13th September 2006

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THE family of road accident victim Demi-Leigh Hitchen have welcomed a new pledge to crack down on drivers who kill.

But the three-year-old's mother Michelle, who watched her daughter die after she was hit by a van which mounted the pavement, said it was still too late for justice to be done for her family - although it could serve families of other children killed on the roads.

Director of Public Prosecutions Ken Macdonald has ordered a more robust approach should be taken by the Crown Prosecution Service when considering whether to charge killer drivers with death by dangerous driving - the offence is often thought too difficult to prove in court.

At the time of Demi-Leigh's death, prosecutors chose to proceed with a trial of driving without due care and attention - a much less serious offence.

Demi-Leigh, died in July 2005 when a van mounted the pavement in Livesey Branch Road, Blackburn. Ryan Frayne, 20, of East Street, Feniscowles, was found guilty of driving without due care and attention. Blackburn magistrates gave him a 12-month driving ban and fined him £1,000 plus £450 costs.

But this week Mr Macdonald said prosecutors should be wary of under-charging drivers who killed. He said they should take into account not just the actions but also the consequences. He encouraged prosecutors to pursue the offence of causing death by dangerous driving - which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.

And said they must not be put off using the more serious charge because the standard of proof is much higher than that for careless driving. Michelle, of Brookway, Livesey, said: "Although this is too late for justice for Demi-Leigh it is reassuring to know justice will be done for other children like Demi-Leigh. Watching my daughter die will haunt me for the rest of my life. The punishment for killing a child on our roads is not harsh enough."

With the support of the women's weekly Pick Me Up magazine and road safety charity Brake, Michelle has launched the Justice for Demi-Leigh campaign for a law that all drivers who are to blame for killing a child are disqualified from driving forever. They are also lobbying for the maximum sentence for death by dangerous driving to be life imprisonment. Levi Bleasdale, of Wasdale Close, Padiham, died after she was knocked down while crossing Ormerod Road, Burnley, with her mum Kirsty, 21, and baby sister Brogan last September.

The stolen VW Golf which hit her was driven by Mohammed Aqueel Hussain, 26, who admitted careless driving, failing to stop and failing to report an accident. He was sent to prison for 12 weeks for failing to stop and failing to report, but only fined for careless driving.

Michelle added: "Demi-Leigh and Levi deserve more than this.Their families expect those responsible to be punished properly and at last this new directive may go some way in achieving that. The law has been a joke for too long and it is time there was some peace for families who have lost children."

A Road Safety Bill, which will create a new offence of causing death by careless driving with a maximum sentence of five years in prison, is going through Parliament.

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