The Attorney General Rt Hon Suella Braverman QC MP referred the case of a Walsall man who caused a fatal accident by driving recklessly to the Court of Appeal, which enhanced the man’s prison term.
On April 4, 2021, James Davis, 35, was travelling at an alarmingly high speed along a busy retail area in Brownhills, Walsall, when he lost control of his automobile and slammed into a pram carrying an 18-day-old baby named Ciaran Morris, who was fatally injured.
Davis was driving without insurance while under the influence of cannabis and had been going up to 67 mph, which is more than double the legal limit.
He was preoccupied with his phone at the time of the collision.
After leaving the area, he turned himself into the police.
At Wolverhampton Crown Court on April 8, 2022, Davis was found guilty of causing death by hazardous driving and given a sentence of six years and six months in jail.
Because she did not think it accurately reflected the seriousness of the offences that had occurred, the Attorney General referred his sentence to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence procedure.
The Court of Appeal handed down a new sentence of 10 years in jail on July 6 after concluding that Davis’ initial sentence was excessively lenient.
The Attorney General, Rt. Hon. Suella Braverman QC, MP, spoke after the hearing “My sympathies are currently with the family of Ciaran Morris, who was sadly killed by James Davis’ reckless driving.
Although Davis’ crimes cannot be undone by a sentence, I applaud the court’s decision to impose a sentence that more accurately represents the horrendous crime that has been committed.”