A regional daily’s bid to get justice for a six-year-old girl killed by a drink and drug-driver has been halted by the UK Government.

HTFP reported earlier this month Stoke-on-Trent daily The Sentinel had backed the family of Sharlotte-Sky Naglis after John Owen, who was nearly twice over the drink-drive limit, had cocaine in his system and had used his mobile phone at the wheel when he hit her, was given a jail term of just six years.

The Sentinel branded the sentence an “insult” to the child’s memory, but Solicitor General Michael Tomlinson has now refused a call backed by more than 5,000 people to refer Owen’s sentence to the Court of Appeal.

The Sentinel splashed on the setback for Sharlotte’s mother Claire Reynolds yesterday, pictured below.

Editor Marc Waddington told HTFP: “I think it’s fair to say that Sharlotte’s family have felt greatly frustrated throughout the judicial process.

“Not only did it take a year to bring Owen to justice, but the justice delivered has fallen far short of what they believe to be that which would come even close to reflecting the seriousness of his crime and the devastation it caused.

“For one of the Government’s most senior lawyers to now have decided that the punishment Owen received fitted the crime has only added to their anguish.

“It is hard to argue with Sharlotte’s mum Claire’s view that a sentence such as this doesn’t feel like much of a deterrent.

“Such short-term sentences can never reflect the enduring pain and suffering people like Owen cause to the families of their victims.”

In a letter to Ms Reynolds, Mr Tomlinson said that “the bar to increasing a sentence is a very high one” and said he found that Judge Paul Glenn had “appropriately” applied the sentencing guidelines.

He wrote: “I appreciate that, given the seriousness of the offender’s behaviour and the horrendous consequences, this sentence does not seem appropriate.

“Unfortunately the test for undue leniency is so strictly applied that it would have been wrong for me to refer this case after having concluded that the Court of Appeal would be unlikely to increase the sentence.”

Mr Tomlinson added: “I am very sorry that I am not able to give you the news that you will have been hoping for, but please be assured that I have given your request and this case the most careful consideration.”