Olivia-Violet Reeves: Family request appeal over Shrewsbury drink-driver's jail sentence for causing death of schoolgirl
The family of an 11-year-old girl killed by a drink-driver in Shrewsbury have lodged a request to appeal against the length of his sentence.
Goodall had also admitted drink-driving, with Wolverhampton Crown Court being told that the pensioner had drunk wine in a lay-by shortly before his Range Rover hit Olivia-Violet as she walked along Mytton Oak Road in Shrewsbury to catch a bus home from St George’s Junior School.
Olivia-Violet’s family have now confirmed that a request to appeal the length of the sentence has been lodged with the attorney general under the unduly lenient sentencing scheme.
The case will now be reviewed by officials at the Attorney General’s Office before they decide whether to refer it to the Court of Appeal for a new sentence.
The family said it had been “incredibly hard” dealing with Olivia-Violet’s death, and they were upset at the prospect of the man responsible for her death being released after what could be 27 months.
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During the sentencing hearing last month the court was told that Goodall had not notified the DVLA about two previous occasions that he had blacked out in 2016 and that he should not have been behind the wheel that day.
The court was told that hospital records showed he had been advised to report the episodes – believed to be related to alcohol issues – to the DVLA.
Witnesses told the police that Goodall had veered to the wrong side of the road and mounted the pavement, striking a telegraph pole before hitting Olivia-Violet.
The court heard how Goodall, who also struck a lamp post, got out of the car and asked others what had happened. Before the police arrived, he asked witnesses whether he could leave the scene because he had been drinking.
Witnesses persuaded him to remain.
In the driver’s door pocket of the Range Rover the police later found a bottle of flavoured water that had been filled with an alcoholic drink. At a police station, he gave a reading of 48 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.
In a statement following the sentence Olivia-Violet’s family said they would never be able to forgive or forget what had happened.
They said: “It will never be long enough for a child’s life.
“She was on the footpath doing nothing wrong, in clear daylight.
“The decisions he chose to make on the day he killed Olivia are astounding to her family and all those involved.
“His constant lack of remorse has haunted the family and the investigating police involved.
“Regardless of any sentence passed today the family remain serving a life sentence.
“There are no words to say other than we will never forgive and we will never forget.”
