A campaign calling for tougher penalties for killer drivers, spearheaded by the Newcastle Evening Chronicle, has been praised in Parliament.

Wansbeck MP Denis Murphy staged a special 90-minute debate in the Commons in which he called for a new offence of “causing death by aggravated dangerous driving” with a discretionary life sentence to be introduced, and praised the paper for bringing the subject into the public eye.

The North East newspaper launched its Justice for Rebecca campaign following the death of six-year-old Rebecca Saywer, who was killed instantly when the car she was in was hit by a stolen Vauxhall Astra.

The driver, Ian Carr, admitted causing death by dangerous driving and had killed before behind the wheel of a stolen car, but was only given a nine-and-a-half-year jail sentence.

Under current law the maximum sentence he could have received is 10 years, but the Chronicle is calling for a change in the law that would allow killer joyriders to be jailed for life.

And the MP told Westminster Hall that the Chronicle’s campaign needed to be adopted and that current proposals to stiffen penalties were inadequate.

He said: “After the accident, everyone in the North East demanded action.

“It is a credit to our excellent regional newspaper, the Evening Chronicle, which decided to run a high profile campaign to make people aware of the events of that night.

“We need to send out a clear message that society will not tolerate people who use a motor vehicle to maim and kill. Carr should be locked away for the rest of his natural life, or at least until he will no longer pose a threat to society.”

The Chronicle launched its campaign in February and so far over 40,000 people have signed the petition.

More than 130 MPs have also signed an Early Day Motion expressing their concern at the sentencing powers of the courts with regard to killer joyriders.

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