DM article

The offender is despicable and I have every sympathy with the boy's family. Given the offender's record, his attitude to driving and his behaviour in general suggests this tragic incident was not unforeseeable. Why he should ever be allowed to drive again defies common sense. For those believing in punishment, it's worth remembering that child killers are not held inn high esteem by other prisoners.

But also read this, which came from Brake today:

Higher prison sentences unlikely to deter ‘death by driving’ offences, academic says

University of Leicester academic Professor Sally Kyd Cunningham suggests new Government laws could fail as a deterrent against crimes committed while driving

In the wake of the Government’s recent announcement of a comprehensive review of driving offences and penalties, an academic from the University of Leicester has argued that higher prison sentences could fail to act as a deterrent against ‘death by driving’ offences – and that it is the punishment for underlying offences that should instead be revised.

Professor Sally Kyd Cunningham from the University of Leicester’s School of Law has called into question the effectiveness of two controversial new offences: ‘causing death by driving by disqualified driving’ and ‘causing serious injury by disqualified driving’, suggesting that the laws will ultimately do little to reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused in driving crashes.

Professor Kyd Cunningham explained: “It is difficult to see how any causing death by driving offence can act as a deterrent, no matter how high the sentence attached to it.

“When drivers get behind the wheel, they do not think about whether they might cause a collision or whether it is they or another road user that might be killed. Neither do they think about the punishment they might receive as a result if they survive the crash.