North Warwickshire & Bedworth MP Craig Tracey has warmly welcomed the Government’s decision to consult on sentencing reform. This sentencing review will include driving offences; something the local Member of Parliament has been campaigning for.
Following Craig lobbying the Minister of Justice and calling for tougher sentencing for dangerous drivers and for hit and run cases in a Parliamentary debate, citing the tragic local case of Sean Morley, the Under-Secretary of State for Justice wrote to the local MP confirming that the Government will commence consultation on sentencing reform in 2016.
Local man Sean Morley was just 20 when he was killed in a hit and run on the A444 near Bedworth. The case was a prime example where the only offence that the courts could prosecute on was for a hit and run, for which the maximum sentence of six months was not even handed out.
Craig had previously stated in a Parliamentary debate that:
“The penalty for leaving the scene of an accident, as I have referred to, is currently up to six months in prison. Had the driver stayed and reported the accident and either drugs or alcohol had been found in their system, they could have been prosecuted for the higher offence of dangerous driving, which carries the greater sentence of 14 years—hardly an incentive to hang around and do the right thing.”
Speaking on the announcement of the consultation Craig commented:
“I am pleased that the Secretary of Justice has taken the decision to consult on sentencing. It is clear that sentencing for dangerous drivers is inadequate and I do not believe justice is being done. Certainly it wasn’t in the case for Sean Morley and his family.”
Sean’s parents Kerry and Gareth Dean said:
"The individual who hit and killed Sean had drugs and alcohol in his system. He knowingly left Sean to die in the road. Mandeep Singh Gill served absolutely nothing for killing and leaving Sean in such a cruel way. It is cowardly and offensive on every level. It is an insult to a wonderful young man who seriously believed that the British Justice System was the best in the world. It has failed Sean at every step. It has been down to us to ask and argue the injustice in the laws along with other families who have also been strong enough to come forward and fight for change.
“We hope that this review will use common sense and serve adequate justice in a system that presently offers none for the victims of 'hit and run'. To drive under the influence is bad enough but to then kill someone and flee the scene without even an anonymous phone call should be punished as a most severe crime. We welcome this long overdue review and are grateful to have the valuable support from our MP Craig Tracey."