THE GRIEVING parents of Miriam Briddon visited 10 Downing Street last Thursday to hand in a 110,000-signature petition calling for stronger criminal driving laws.

Richard and Ceinwen Briddon, of Cross Inn, near New Quay, who are also involved in the Roads to Justice campaign run by national road safety charity Brake, launched a campaign A Moment for Miriam after their daughter’s death on the A482 near Ciliau Aeron on 29 March, 2014.

Miriam, a promising 21-year-old fashion designer, was weeks away from being awarded a first-class honours degree at the time of her death.

She had been travelling to see her boyfriend when a Volkswagen Golf driven at speed by Gareth Entwistle strayed into the path of her Fiat Punto.

Entwistle, who was subsequently jailed for five-and-a-half years after admitting causing death by careless driving under the influence of alcohol, later had six months of his sentence reduced by judges at London’s Criminal Appeal Court who said he should have been given more credit for his guilty plea.

In a statement outside Downing Street last week, Mr and Mrs Briddon said: “We named the petition A Moment for Miriam as we were asking people to take a moment of their time to read about Miriam and to sign our petition.

“The amount of signatures we received in a just two months was phenomenal.

“We are truly amazed at how quickly we crossed the 100,000 mark and we are very grateful to everyone who has signed and shared our campaign.

“We will never have justice for Miriam. The present sentencing guidelines and the law is an insult to her life and a disgrace to us left behind to pick up the pieces.

“When an innocent life is taken, the punishment should reflect the seriousness of the crime. 

“We are calling on the Government to review and change the guidelines that determine sentencing of drink drivers who kill.”

The Briddon family say they are particularly upset that Entwistle will only serve half his sentence.

“We feel that, in a way, it is an insult to Miriam’s life,” said Mrs Briddon.

She and her family want drivers who kill to receive a minimum sentence of 10 years with no early release from prison.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: “This government is determined to make sure sentencing fits the crime for those who kill or cause serious injury on our roads.

“We will launch a consultation on driving offences and penalties by the end of the year.”

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