A heartbroken sister and daughter has launched a petition to change the criminal justice system after the drug-driver who killed her family was “let off” with less than a decade behind bars.
Summer Mace’s world was turned upside down in January this year when Lynn man Aurelijus Cielevicius ploughed into her family’s car on the A47 at North Runcton, killing them on the spot.
Cielevicius was speeding at 96mph when he attempted to overtake another vehicle and crashed into the Vauxhall Mokka containing Paul Carter, 41, Lisa Carter, 49, and Jade Mace, 25. In an instant, Summer lost her mother, sister and step-father.
Their killer had crystal meth, cannabis and mephedrone in his system when he struck them and pleaded guilty to three counts of death by dangerous driving. A judge handed him a total of ten and a half years in jail, of which he will likely serve just seven.
He has been banned from driving for 15 years – and now, frustrated by what they feel have been major failings in the justice system, Summer and her father Jason Mace have launched a petition in a bid to change it.
At the heart of their campaign is one question: “What do you have to do to get a life imprisonment?”
They hope to change rules around bail and curfews – Cielevicius was on a curfew when he killed their family, who lived in Gedney, Lincolnshire, but was not being monitored.
They also want to change the way consecutive and concurrent sentences are awarded, as well as improve support for bereaved families.
Summer and Jason are also demanding that an appeal into Cielevicius’ sentencing is reopened, having seen a previous one turned down on the grounds that it did not meet the criteria for being unduly lenient.
They have also joined arms with the national charity RoadPeace, looking to spread awareness of its Fix our Broken Justice System campaign.
“I feel completely insulted by the system,” Summer said.
“How is taking three lives, and being on the amount of drugs you were on, and driving on the wrong side of the road, and speeding, being on a curfew – how is that not substantial enough?
“We shouldn’t have to do any of this. We should just be able to grieve our loved ones, but we’re not.
“It was already the worst thing that could ever happen to you, but it’s been made even worse by how poor our system is. I can’t let it go that he’s just been let off like this for killing my family.
“To me, he did commit two or more crimes – he’s killed three people, but they look at it as one incident.
“Just because you’ve killed them all in one go doesn’t mean you’ve only committed one crime. You’ve committed three there.”
The RoadPeace campaign is looking to have longer sentences imposed for dangerous drivers – incorporating the likes of lifetime disqualifications.
It is also aiming for immediate suspensions of licences following serious or fatal crashes, victims’ rights to be put before offenders’, and for the conditions for ‘exceptional hardship’ to be tightened when judges hand out sentences.
Jason said: “Nowhere in any of this situation from start to finish have I heard the word ‘punishment’. I think we’re at a point where there is no punishment anymore.
“They (victims) don’t get to come back on parole, they don’t get to come back for good behaviour. We’ve lost them forever, they’ve lost their lives forever.
“Yet he can be out in seven years, killing three people. It just doesn’t stack up.”
Anybody who wishes to sign Summer and Jason’s petition can visit https://chng.it/qLRKqxwp2D
You must confirm via email after signing it or it will not register.
