YEP Says: Action must be taken to help the tragic families

AS an Army Major, Richard Gilbey has been a dedicated servant to his country. Yet when he asked for justice after his beloved son, James, was knocked and down and killed while enjoying a night out with friends, he and his distraught family have been let down by the criminal justice system.

The two men responsible for James’s death, who had been racing at speeds of 79mph in a 40 zone, fled the scene. Two days later they handed themselves in after a huge police manhunt. They were each jailed for eight years will serve just four, free to then rebuild their lives.

For James Gilbey’s family it is a kick in the teeth. But they are not alone in feeling a profound sense of injustice. An investigation has revealed that dozens of people convicted of killing by driving dangerously have walked free, with not a single person convicted of this crime, leaving the families of their victims to pick up the pieces.

Figures obtained from the Ministry of Justice and the Crown Prosecution Service can now lay bare the full extent of the disparities in the way the law and the criminal justice system is dealing with drivers.

It cannot be right.

The punishment must fit and the crime and when it comes to dangerous driving this simply isn’t the case. Action must be taken now to out this right.