Crash victim: "I feel like I'm the one being punished"

A woman whose life was changed when she and her friend were in a horror smash has slammed the decision to release the man responsible after serving less than four months of his 15-month sentence.

Beth Tyson and Kate Hunter suffered life-changing injuries when they were hit by a car, driven by 35-year-old Adam Hill, near Market Rasen in December 2013.

The girls were trapped in the car for almost two hours before emergency services could free them, with injuries so severe that a judge later said that, short of killing them, the harm done to the girls could not have been greater.

Lincoln Crown Court head how Adam Hill of Grimsby Road, Caistor, was “distracted” and “stressed” after losing his position at a Porsche dealership and had sent a text message asking a friend for a job shortly before the crash. The presiding judge told Hill that he should not have been driving that day, given his mental state.

Hill was banned from driving for three years and jailed for 15 months in July of this year for causing injury by dangerous driving. Today he was released 16-weeks into his sentence, with an electronic tagging device.

It took Beth Tyson, who was 18 at the time, 14-weeks after the crash before she could stand up again.

Her life has changed beyond recognition. She is in pain every day, and sometimes struggles to walk around the house and has had to abandon her dreams of becoming a paramedic like her mother. She's shocked and angry at Hill's release.

Kate Hunter, who was with was Beth in the car, lost the use of her her left arm and was lucky to survive a bleed on her brain. In a statement today she said she had respect for the role of Ministry of Justice and just wants to concentrate on her dream of representing her country in the Paralympics.

Carloe Whittingham, from Support and Care After Road Death and Injury, says releasing Hill early sends out the wrong message:

Beth echoes those sentiments, and is also calling for tougher penalties for those, like Hill, who are found guilty of dangerous driving, and she lives with the life-long impact of her crash.