28/06/2006

Hit-and-run driver receives longer jail term

A hit-and-run driver who killed a student has had his jail sentence increased from 18 months to three years.

Abigail Craen, 20, from Liss, Hampshire, died after she was hit by Jaswinder Singh on a pedestrian crossing in Birmingham in October last year.

Singh, 45, from Ward End, Birmingham, gave himself up a week after the crash.

He was originally sentenced to 18 months for dangerous driving and banned from driving for four years.

However, the Court of Appeal ruled that the sentence was "unduly lenient" and increased it to three years. The driving ban was also extended to ten years.

Abigail's mother, Susan Craen welcomed the decision, but said that it still did not reflect the family's loss.

She said: "I still feel very strongly that anyone involved in a hit-and-run accident - lethal or otherwise - should automatically and immediately have their licence removed for life.

(KMcA/SP)

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