Mum's anger at possible release of daughter's killer

The mother of a 17-year-old girl who died in a car crash said she was devastated to learn the driver of the car could be freed from jail, released under the government's early release scheme.

Lily-May Vaughan, 17, from Kidderminster, was the passenger in a car driven by her boyfriend Logan Addison, 20. It came off the road near Shawbury Heath in Shropshire in February 2023.

He was jailed for five and a half years in June last year for causing death by dangerous driving.

Leanne Vaughan said it took 28 months to get him behind bars, and she had written to the prime minister asking to discuss the release scheme. The MoJ has said it was fast-tracking a plan to keep dangerous offenders behind bars.

The government is set to release about 5,000 offenders from October as part of new laws to create more space in overcrowded prisons.

It has led to a backlash from families. Earlier this week the chief inspector of probation for England and Wales said it could lead to "a serious sexual or violent offence or even murder" because of the demands on probation staff to monitor offenders.

During Addison's trial, jurors heard his girlfriend died at the scene after the car hit an electricity pole and flipped on to its roof.

An eyewitness said she had seen his car pass in a "flash of a blur".

Addison, who was 17 at the time, was said to have been travelling at more than the 60mph (96kp/h) speed limit on a country lane.

Vaughan said her life had changed the day her daughter died, leaving the family devastated.

"It's an indescribable pain," she said.

"What hurts the most now is that it's just a constant battle for justice.

"I thought losing my daughter was the worst thing that could possibly happen, which it is. But it just seems that the criminal justice system is just really traumatic for victims."

She said a victim liaison officer contacted her to say under the Sentencing Act 2026 he could be released early from the two and half a years he was due to serve.

She said the government changes were due to come in on 2 September "which hurt even more", because it would be her daughter's 21st birthday.

The changes have since been pushed back until October.

"I haven't had confirmation of everything, I just know that death by dangerous driving isn't something that's going to be excluded from this," she said.

Vaughan said she had contacted her MP, Mark Garnier, who was attempting to arrange a meeting with Justice Minister Alex Norris as well as West Mercia Police and Crime Commisioner, John Campion.

She said she wanted to speak out in the hope it would make the prime minister listen to her.

"If somebody, a 17-year-old innocent girl, with her whole life ahead of her loses her life, I can't understand why that's not serious."

An MoJ spokesperson said dangerous offenders would include murderers and those serving sentences for rape, serious child sexual abuse and grooming offences.

It added it was building 14,000 new prison places, expanding electronic tagging, and investing in probation services.

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