Deputy PM to meet grieving mum of Sharlotte-Sky Naglis over killer's 'unduly lenient' sentence
The grieving mother of a six-year-old girl who was killed by a drink driver in Stoke-on-Trent will meet with the Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab to discuss her killer's short sentence.
Sharlotte-Sky Naglis was killed by John Owen, then 45, as she walked along the pavement with her dad in Norton Green in June last year.
She died instantly, while her father Kris was injured.
Owen was speeding, was almost twice over the drink-drive limit, had taken cocaine, was using his mobile phone around the time of the crash and was not wearing a seatbelt.
Owen, of The Square, Oakamoor, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving on the first day of his trial in October 2022 and as such was given a third off his nine-year sentence.
His sentence means he could be out of prison within three years.
Sharlotte-Sky's mother, Claire Reynolds, appealed to the Attorney General last month in a bid to have Owen's sentence extended - but it was denied.
She has been joined by her local MP Jonathan Gullis in arguing that the sentence was "unduly lenient" and letters have been written to both the Attorney General and Solicitor General. They both said that the prison term was not unduly lenient.
Mr Gullis raised Sharlotte-Sky's case with Mr Raab at Justice Oral Parliamentary Questions, ahead of a televised adjournment debate about the unduly lenient sentence scheme on Wednesday.
Mr Raab said: "Can I first of all express my condolences and deep sorrow for the family of his young constituent.
"He will know that we have increased the sentencing for driving offences, but, of course, I am very happy to look [at it] again with him and meet with his constituent."
Following that, Mr Gullis raised the issue in Parliament on Wednesday evening, as Sharlotte-Sky's mother and grandfather watched from the public gallery.
In an emotional speech, which stopped at points for the MP to gather himself, Mr Gullis said that Sharlotte-Sky's death had "shocked the entire city of Stoke-on-Trent".
He said the main point of the debate was to consider the unduly lenient sentence scheme, but also to introduce the idea of a 'Sharlotte's Law' which would make it easier for police to test blood samples without consent when a crime has been committed.
In Sharlotte-Sky's case, he said, blood samples from Owen could not be tested until he was conscious following the crash, causing more distress to the girl's family.
The solicitor general, MP Michael Tomlinson, responded to Mr Gullis' concerns but didn't comment on the suggestion that the prison term was unduly lenient.
He did pay tribute to Sharlotte-Sky's family and in particular her mother who he said has shown "unwavering bravery and conviction in the fight for justice."
He also said Sharlotte-Sky's case will "highlight scourge of dangerous driving, it will help and has helped to make a difference and the increase of sentencing in the 2022 act and Sharlotte's memory will continue to have a positive impact in the future".
New laws brought in this year increase the maximum sentence for death by dangerous driving to life imprisonment.
However, at the time of Owen's offence it was between seven years and 14 years for the most serious cases and the new law doesn't work in retrospect.
Mr Gullis will be continuing his fight against the sentence, telling Parliament that Sharlotte-Sky's mother "will not stop until the man who killed her daughter is punished properly for the aborrant crime he has committed and I will join her."
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