Hit and Run victim vows to campaign for overhaul of the justice system

By Kris Jepson

A hit and run victim from Teesside has launched a petition to campaign for an overhaul of the justice system and fight for tougher sentences after the man who ran him down was handed a four year sentence, but will only serve 16 months in prison.

Speaking for the first time on TV, 18-year-old Luke Mason told ITV News Tyne Tees "I just haven't got any justice whatsoever. No amount of time would have been enough for the offender to get in jail, but I think the sentence that was given is just a joke".

Warning: @krisjepson's report contains pictures from the start of the incident itself and some of the horrific injuries Luke suffered:

Luke Mason and his friend Matthew Lockwood were hit by the car outside the Empire nightclub on Corporation Road in Middlesbrough in the early hours of the 15 October last year.

Matthew Lockwood sustained minor injuries and needed 20 stitches for a cut above his eyebrow, where a piece of metal had embedded into his head.

Luke Mason was put into an induced coma and had major surgery on his back to have metal plates fitted to his spine. He suffered injuries to his head, spine, neck and stomach.

On Tuesday 40-year-old Hadi Hamid was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to two charges of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, after previously claiming he was not at the wheel at the time of the accident.

He will serve 16 months in prison before being released and Mr Mason says that sentence is not severe enough.