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Greg Mulholland-Working Hard For Leeds North WestMulholland and family of Jamie Still set to meet Minister to discuss ongoing campaign
April 20, 2012 5:14 PM
Member of Parliament for Leeds North West, Greg Mulholland, is set to meet with Justice Minister, Crispin Blunt MP, along with the family of Jamie Still, to discuss the ongoing campaign to change the law, so that those charged with death by dangerous or careless driving have their driving licence suspended as a bail condition. This comes on the back of a Parliamentary Motion tabled by Mulholland on the subject as well as calling on the Prime Minister to seriously consider changing the law, in a letter and during PMQ's.
Greg has backed a campaign launched by the family of Otley teenager Jamie Still, who tragically lost his life when he was struck by a driver speeding and twice over the legal drink drive limit. The perpetrator, who was convicted and jailed in September 2011 was allowed to continue driving for 8 months after killing Jamie, which caused huge distress to Jamie's family and friends and has been described by Mr Mulholland as "grotesque".
Greg, along with Jamie's mother, Karen, and sister, Rebecca, who has been leading the campaign, will meet with Justice Minister, Crispin Blunt, on Tuesday to discuss their experiences, the campaign and what can be done to ensure others aren't forced to face the same agony they have.
The family have also started an e-petition which can be found at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/zero---tolerance-for-drink-drivers-in-the-uk/ , calling for zero-tolerance for drink drivers in the UK and specifically for those who kill through dangerous driving to have their licences suspended.
Greg commented:
"The unnecessary and tragic death of Jamie Still was something that deeply affected the whole community in Otley, as well as being heartbreaking for his family and friends.
"Their loss has been made even more difficult by the fact that the person who killed him, who was more than twice over the drink driving limit and driving recklessly, was allowed to continue driving for eight months afterwards
"Following the positive response from the Prime Minister to my question, I hope the Justice Minister will listen to the concerns of the family of Jamie Still and look into how the law can be changed to prevent the same agony they faced on discovering that Jamie's killer was allowed to continue driving for eight months after killing Jamie, which is simply grotesque."
"The loophole that currently allows those charged with dangerous or careless driving to continue driving until sentencing, often for many months, is something that causes further distress to families of those killed or injured. Something must be done to address this and I hope that this meeting with the Minister will be a significant step forward in ensuring this happens."
Karen Strong said:
"We are so pleased that Greg has been able to secure this meeting with the Justice Minister to discuss our continued campaign to see changes to the law surrounding those charged with causing death by dangerous or careless driving.
"By continuing to push forward our campaign in this way, I hope we can ensure through a change in the law that no family has to go through what we have gone through."
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