Luna
22-02-2006, 22:23
THE family of hit-and-run toddler Levi Bleasdale last night branded the law an "absolute disgrace" after the speeding driver who killed her was jailed for just 12 weeks.
Mum Kirsty was crossing the road with three-year-old Levi when uninsured Mohammed Aqueel Hussain ploughed into her in a stolen VW Golf. She said: "This is a nightmare.
"This sentence is nothing. He has taken my daughter's life. I'll serve a life sentence but he'll be scot-free in weeks."
Levi's grandfather Michael Ryan added: "We are all absolutely appalled. A few months ago someone who stole a teddy from a memorial site for Levi was sentenced to eight months in jail.
"Yet the person who killed her has only got three. It's a disgrace. You'd get more for shoplifting."
Hussain, 26, who has never taken a driving test, admitted careless driving and failing to stop after an accident or report it.
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Magistrates could have jailed him for a maximum of six months - but opted for a 12- week term after hearing there was conflicting evidence over whether his driving had been erratic. But Michael insisted the family did NOT blame the magistrates and said the chairman of the bench was clearly upset that his hands were tied over sentencing.
Michael, 45, added: "He apologised for not being able to impose a harsher sentence. The only way of stopping this happening again is if the law is changed."
Currently offenders can only be fined for careless driving, even if they kill.
Proposed new laws will allow courts to jail motorists convicted of causing death by careless driving for up to five years. The measures, part of the Road Safety Bill, will also create a new offence of causing death when driving while unlicensed, disqualified or uninsured. It will carry a maximum two-year term.
Hussain is estimated to have been doing up to 48 mph in a 30mph zone when he hit Levi in Burnley. He sped away from the accident scene and hid out in a hotel.
Hussain, who had only a provisional licence, later told police he fled because he panicked. Levi, whose five-month-old sister Brogan was also crossing the road when the car struck, suffered multiple injuries.
Rachel Adamson, defending, said Hussain was filled with remorse. She added: "He will never forgive himself and prays for the child every day."
But after the hearing, Kirsty, 22, said Hussain's apology meant nothing.
"Because of him Brogan is never going to know her sister. I don't want his prayers or apologies. I want him to pay for what he has done."
Road safety charity Brake said the 12-week sentence was a travesty of justice.
Chief executive Mary Williams said: "There can be no more despicable crime than to leave a child dying in the road. And yet we get these utterly insulting and meaningless penalties."
Hussain could only have been given a maximum of six months in prison on the failing to stop or report an accident charges because that is the limit imposed at a magistrates court.
If the Criminal Prosecution Service had been able to charge him with dangerous driving he would have faced a crown court and up to 14 years in jail.
Hussain also admitted an unrelated charge of handling stolen goods. He was sentenced to four weeks jail.
Mum Kirsty was crossing the road with three-year-old Levi when uninsured Mohammed Aqueel Hussain ploughed into her in a stolen VW Golf. She said: "This is a nightmare.
"This sentence is nothing. He has taken my daughter's life. I'll serve a life sentence but he'll be scot-free in weeks."
Levi's grandfather Michael Ryan added: "We are all absolutely appalled. A few months ago someone who stole a teddy from a memorial site for Levi was sentenced to eight months in jail.
"Yet the person who killed her has only got three. It's a disgrace. You'd get more for shoplifting."
Hussain, 26, who has never taken a driving test, admitted careless driving and failing to stop after an accident or report it.
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Magistrates could have jailed him for a maximum of six months - but opted for a 12- week term after hearing there was conflicting evidence over whether his driving had been erratic. But Michael insisted the family did NOT blame the magistrates and said the chairman of the bench was clearly upset that his hands were tied over sentencing.
Michael, 45, added: "He apologised for not being able to impose a harsher sentence. The only way of stopping this happening again is if the law is changed."
Currently offenders can only be fined for careless driving, even if they kill.
Proposed new laws will allow courts to jail motorists convicted of causing death by careless driving for up to five years. The measures, part of the Road Safety Bill, will also create a new offence of causing death when driving while unlicensed, disqualified or uninsured. It will carry a maximum two-year term.
Hussain is estimated to have been doing up to 48 mph in a 30mph zone when he hit Levi in Burnley. He sped away from the accident scene and hid out in a hotel.
Hussain, who had only a provisional licence, later told police he fled because he panicked. Levi, whose five-month-old sister Brogan was also crossing the road when the car struck, suffered multiple injuries.
Rachel Adamson, defending, said Hussain was filled with remorse. She added: "He will never forgive himself and prays for the child every day."
But after the hearing, Kirsty, 22, said Hussain's apology meant nothing.
"Because of him Brogan is never going to know her sister. I don't want his prayers or apologies. I want him to pay for what he has done."
Road safety charity Brake said the 12-week sentence was a travesty of justice.
Chief executive Mary Williams said: "There can be no more despicable crime than to leave a child dying in the road. And yet we get these utterly insulting and meaningless penalties."
Hussain could only have been given a maximum of six months in prison on the failing to stop or report an accident charges because that is the limit imposed at a magistrates court.
If the Criminal Prosecution Service had been able to charge him with dangerous driving he would have faced a crown court and up to 14 years in jail.
Hussain also admitted an unrelated charge of handling stolen goods. He was sentenced to four weeks jail.