Parliament to debate Violet-Grace's law

A petition for tougher sentences for dangerous drivers, which was launched in memory of a four-year-old hit-and-run victim, will be debated by MPs.

Violet-Grace's Law calls for life sentences to be considered for those convicted of dangerous driving.

It was started by the parents of four-year-old Violet-Grace Youens, who was struck by a hit and run driver in St Helens in March 2017.

Driver Aidan McAteer drove a stolen car at 83 mph in a 30 mph zone then fled the scene after he had struck Violet and her grandmother Angela French.

The youngster died from her injuries, while her grandmother suffered life-changing injuries.

McAteer was jailed for nine years and four months while passenger Dean Brennan, who aided him in fleeing the country, was handed a sentence of six years and eight months.

The pair will spend half their sentence in prison and the other half on licence.

After learning that the killers would spend less time in prison than the amount of time Violet was alive, her parents, Rebecca and Glenn, launched the petition, which has now been signed 164,000 times.