Cerys Edwards campaign: Government says it "can't afford" to change law

Oct 2 2009 EXCLUSIVE By Nick McCarthy

“We put so much effort into this campaign and we are so thankful for the support from everybody who has signed the petition. But it is so disappointing to not get the result we wanted.

“For them to say ‘it is too expensive’ is a kick in the teeth.

“We wanted to make sure that no other family would suffer this terrible injustice.

“It has been nearly three years and we are still not back under the same roof. The man responsible for all of this served just six months in prison. But our lives have been torn apart.

“Claire Ward seemed very sympathetic during the meeting, she is a mother of young children herself, so I would like to know how she would feel is she was in our position?

Claire Ward said: “While we fully understand and sympathise with the Edwards’ point of view, you will appreciate that we have to balance any increase in penalty with the impact on the criminal justice system and the taxpayer of a rapidly increasing prison population.

“After careful consideration of what should be included in the Road Safety Bill, 2006, we decided that the creation of the new offences should be prioritised.

“We created new offences of causing death by careless driving and causing death when driving unlicensed, disqualified or uninsured.

“Although we would have liked to increase the penalty for dangerous driving at the same time, it was simply not affordable to do everything at once.

“The Cerys case has helped to bring the issue back into focus and we will bear it in mind as we continue to keep the law under review.”

(add pars to come)

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