Star comment: A burning feeling of injustice
As if the anguish and grief of losing an 11-year-old daughter at the hands of a drink driver is not awful enough, the family of Olivia-Violet Reeves have a burning sense that the judicial system has failed her, and failed them.
Her killer, 77-year-old Roger Goodall – an alcoholic, his lawyer told the court – should not have been at the wheel that day, or any other day.
Before he ran down the Shrewsbury schoolgirl as she walked to catch the bus home, he had been swigging from a bottle of wine in his car in a layby.
He had previously blacked out on two occasions, but kept it from the DVLA. He had a conviction for driving without due care.
Goodall, who last month admitted causing the death of Olivia-Violet by dangerous driving and driving above the alcohol limit, was sentenced to four and a half years in jail.
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Or 27 months, in reality, for taking the life of a youngster, and all she was and could have been, permanently devastating her family and robbing them of the joy of seeing her blossom.
The cliche would be to say that Olivia-Violet was at the wrong place at the wrong time. But Olivia-Violet was doing nothing wrong. She was at the right place at the right time, an innocent victim. It just happened to be her who paid the price for Goodall’s criminal actions. It could just have well have been anybody who was on his route that day.
The family have also been haunted by his apparent lack of remorse. Their fight for justice for Olivia-Violet - a condign sentence which reflects the enormity of the crime - has come up against official resistance.
They applied to the Solicitor General for permission to appeal against the sentence, but have been turned down on the grounds that the sentence Goodall received fell within the guidelines.
Which raises the question of where all the credit for Goodall has come from.
The maximum for causing death by dangerous driving while under the influence is 14 years, with a reduction for a guilty plea. Olivia-Violet’s family were told at the hearing he had been given a “level two” sentence.
While Goodall pleaded guilty, there are aggravating factors in his case and while judges are expected to follow the guidelines, which give a sentencing range, they can depart from them if they have good reason and state why.
Whatever the outcome of any further legal moves, parents everywhere will sympathise with the family in their anger and distress that Olivia-Violet’s killing has been regarded as a “level two” crime and treated accordingly.
