A grieving mother has condemned the Government for considering the early release of the dangerous driver who caused the death of her son. Lisa Mavin, 46, lost her 15-year-old son Corey in a crash on Hartford Bank in Cramlington, Northumberland.
Corey and Connor Lapworth, 18, both from Blyth, were passengers in a Suzuki Vitara driven by Garry Robinson. The driver, who was high on cocaine, lost control on a bend at high speed and collided head-on with an oncoming car on December 22, 2023. Both Corey and Connor died. A 17-year-old passenger in the Suzuki and a 36-year-old woman in the Range Rover Evoque, which he hit, were seriously injured.
Sentence reduced on appeal
Robinson, 41, of no fixed address, admitted two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and two charges of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. He was jailed for 18 years at Newcastle Crown Court in May 2024 and given a lifetime driving ban. In May last year, he won an appeal to have his sentence reduced to a non-extended term of 14 years; the driving ban remained.
Lisa has now been told Robinson could be released early under the Government's early prisoner release scheme, introduced to free up space in overcrowded prisons. If released, he could serve as little as three years behind bars.
'Living this nightmare everyday'
Lisa, mother to Callum, 28, Riley, 13, and Finley, nine, said: "You get more for cutting down a tree (Sycamore Gap). The whole justice system is absolutely messed up."
"Why is the Government doing this? It's disrespectful to the families. If they have got children they have got to put themselves in our shoes. We're living this nightmare everyday."
"It's an absolute joke, these criminals are laughing. They are laughing at us and the sentence they have got. They must be buzzing inside their jail cells thinking they will maybe be getting out really soon."
"My kids are still distraught now. It's still like a living nightmare. All of Corey's friends are now passing their driving tests and he hasn’t got the chance to do that."
Petition and wider campaign
Lisa is running a petition on Change.org calling for tougher sentences for those who cause death by dangerous driving. She is backing the families of Archie York, seven, and Maya Chappell, two, who are urging the Prime Minister not to release child killers early.
Archie York died when his home in Benwell, Newcastle, was destroyed in an explosion caused by an illegal drugs lab in the flat below. Drug dealer Reece Galbraith was jailed for 14 years after admitting manslaughter. Maya died after being violently shaken by her mother's boyfriend, Michael Daymond, at her home in Shotton Colliery, County Durham, in 2022. Daymond was jailed for life, and Maya's mum Dana Carr was jailed for nine years for child cruelty by neglect and allowing the death of a child.
Archie's mum Katherine Errington, 29, was heartbroken to discover that Galbraith could be released at the halfway point of his jail term. Maya's family were also devastated to learn that Carr could be considered for earlier release.
Lisa, who works as bar staff and a singer, said: "They've got to make me aware that it's a possibility that he could be released early. They will look at everybody's case individually."
"It's awful seeing the same things happen to other families. They should be at least serving what they have been sentenced to."
Government response
Andy Burnham has put the Government's early release policy, which was due to see thousands of prisoners released in September, on pause and pledged to carry out an immediate review.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "We have always stated we wanted to go further, and we are fast-tracking a plan to keep more of the most dangerous offenders behind bars. That's on top of murderers and those serving sentences for rape, serious child sexual abuse and grooming offences who are already blocked from any changes.
"We share the public's anger that these options are even being considered, after we inherited a prison system on the brink of collapse. We are fixing this by building 14,000 new prison places, expanding electronic tagging on an unprecedented scale, and investing in probation services at record levels. We are also exploring how we can go further, including faster deportation of foreign criminals, better use of the women’s estate and reviewing the unjust IPP sentences."
