Mum of girl killed by drunk driver vows to keep fighting for justice for daughter despite setbacks
The mum of a six-year-old girl killed by a driver who was drunk and on drugs has vowed to fight on despite setbacks in her campaign for justice.Claire Reynolds' daughter Sharlotte-Sky Naglis, was killed by John Owen, then 45, as she walked along the pavement with her dad in Stoke-on-Trent in June, 2021.In October 2022, Owen was given a jail sentence that could see him out of prison within three years.
Ms Reynolds' local MP Jonathan Gullis has since written to both the Solicitor General and Attorney General to have the six years and four months jail term reviewed on the basis it was "unduly lenient".But the Attorney General has now backed up the Solicitor General's initial assertion that the sentence given to Owen was not unduly lenient on him.Ms Reynolds, 37, said she was "deflated" by the news, but would not stop fighting.She said: "The outcome I have received from the Attorney General's office just adds to the heartbreak I feel.
"The second rejection didn't address any points we have made or give any reasons behind the sentence. I feel deflated but will not stop fighting.
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"I'm so thankful for all the support I have in this fight for justice - not just for Sharlotte but for everyone else that has been let down by our so-called justice system.""The outcome I have received from the Attorney General's office just adds to the heartbreak I feel.
"The second rejection didn't address any points we have made or give any reasons behind the sentence. I feel deflated but will not stop fighting.
"I'm so thankful for all the support I have in this fight for justice - not just for Sharlotte but for everyone else that has been let down by our so-called justice system."Mr Gullis, MP for Stoke-on-Trent North, is to raise Sharlotte's case at a Westminster Hall debate next week, and intends to take the campaign directly to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.Hitting out at Attorney General Victoria Prentis' decision, he said the sentence given to Owen - which was reduced from nine-and-a-half years because of his guilty plea on the day his trial was due to begin - did not take into account the pain and suffering Owen had caused to his victim's family or the impact on the wider community.He said: "Sharlotte's mother Claire, the North Staffordshire community and I are aghast that Mr Owen having been on his phone, having been twice over the limit and having earlier taken cocaine, while speeding, are not somehow serious aggravating factors to result in a 14-year sentence for the death of a six-year-old girl.
"We cannot comprehend what could be more serious."The MP wrote to the Attorney General to call for a review to Owen's sentence after the Solicitor General Michael Tomlinson refused to refer the case to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.But North Oxfordshire MP Ms Prentis, who was appointed Attorney General, wrote back to say that the Solicitor General's decision was one in which she had 'full confidence'.She wrote: "A sentence is unduly lenient where it falls outside the range of sentences which the sentencing judge, applying his or her mind to all the relevant factors, could reasonably consider appropriate.
"Or where there has been some gross error of principle in the judge's sentence, such that, in the absence of the sentence being altered by the Court of Appeal, public confidence would be damaged."The sentence has been scrutinised and found not to fall into either category to justify a referral: this was not a borderline case."Owen, of The Square, Oakamoor, drove into Sharlotte and her dad Kris as they walked along the pavement on Endon Road near their Norton Green home on June 19 last year. Sharlotte died instantly, while Kris was also injured.
He admitted causing death by dangerous driving at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court in July and was eventually jailed in October.
He was given a third off nine years for his guilty plea, which saw Ms Reynolds walk out of court calling the sentence 'an insult'.
The maximum sentence for death by dangerous driving was increased to life imprisonment in June this year. However, at the time of Owen's offence it was between seven years and 14 years for the most serious cases.In his letter Mr Gullis also queried how Owen, 46, was given a full one-third reduction for his guilty plea, given the plea did not come at the earliest opportunity.He added: "I will be raising this case directly with the Prime Minister, and will not give up the fight in getting justice for Sharlotte."