The Newcastle Evening Chronicle’s campaign for tougher penalties for killer drivers in the wake of six-year-old Rebecca Sawyer’s tragic death has been praised in Parliament.
Wansbeck MP Denis Murphy staged a 90-minute debate in the Commons to highlight the tragedy. Rebecca died when the Sawyers’ car was rammed by a banned driver who had 89 previous offences including another killing. Under current law he could receive no more than 10 years in jail and was sentenced to nine and a half.
Murphy said the tougher penalties proposed by the Chronicle needed to be adopted. He said: “After the accident, everyone in the North East demanded action. It is a credit to our excellent regional newspaper which ran a high-profile campaign to make people aware of the events of that night.”
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