(Stoke-on-Trent North)
(Con)
I beg to move,
That leave be given to bring in a Bill to amend section 7A of the
Road Traffic Act 1988 to provide that a specimen of blood may be
subjected to a laboratory test without the permission of the
person from whom it was taken; and for connected purposes.
Since I was elected in 2019, my team and I have dealt with
thousands of cases to support my constituents across
Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove and Talke. However, no case has
been as moving and upsetting, or has had as much of an impact in
the community, as the tragic death of six-year-old Sharlotte-Sky
Naglis on 19 June 2021. Sharlotte was out for a walk with her
father along Endon Road in Norton Green to get some sweets when
she was hit and killed by John Owen, who was two times over the
drink-drive limit with class A drugs in his system and speeding
while on his phone. The impact on the local community is
impossible to overestimate. I know that friends of Sharlotte
still fear crossing the road or walking to school by themselves—a
milestone that, as any parent knows, is an essential part of
growing up—and I know of parents who are so much more concerned
about their children going out to play because of the fear that
the same thing could happen to their loved ones.
As a father myself, I am humbled every time I work with
Sharlotte's brave and inspirational mother, Claire Reynolds.
Although she sadly cannot be with us today as she is recovering
from surgery, she has not stopped trying to get justice for her
daughter. Claire and I first started working together after John
Owen was given a shockingly lenient sentence. The judge, who told
Mr Owen that he was
“an accident waiting to happen”,
sentenced him to just six years and four months in prison, where
he would only serve two and a half years behind bars. Claire,
Sharlotte's family, and I believe it to be an insult that the
criminal who killed Sharlotte would spend less time behind bars
than Sharlotte was alive.
However, I pass on my thanks to the Secretary of State for
Justice for supporting Claire and I by blocking the ludicrous and
affrontive suggestion that John Owen could have been moved to a
category D prison after serving just 12 months of his sentence.
That would have rubbed more salt into the wounds of all those
close to Sharlotte, and I am grateful that that sickening move
did not go ahead.
While we were unable to increase John Owen's sentence, what
Claire and I wanted more than anything was to leave a lasting
legacy in Sharlotte's name. We seek to amend section 7A of the
Road Traffic Act 1988 by introducing Sharlotte's law. This
legislative change has one simple intention: to put victims of
road traffic incidents and their families first. Under the
current legislation, blood samples can be taken without consent
when someone is unconscious and has been involved in a fatal
collision. However, those blood samples are not allowed to be
tested unless that individual gives their consent. That not only
delays the conduct of the police investigation, but more
importantly, it prolongs the pain for victims who are desperately
seeking answers. Claire told me that her experience was like
torture: for eleven weeks, the family waited, not knowing whether
John Owen would wake up and be held accountable for his crimes,
nor when they would get answers about what led to Sharlotte's
life being taken.
To add further confusion, if an individual regains consciousness
but refuses consent for the blood sample to be tested, they will
be guilty of failing to allow testing and will receive up to two
years in prison. However, if that individual has taken substances
or consumed alcohol to a certain limit that would act as a more
serious aggravating factor and could increase their sentence
beyond that additional two years, we could perversely end up with
testing of blood samples being refused so that the accused could
try to get a lesser sentence.
Simply put, this Bill seeks to achieve a tidying up of the law,
enabling answers to be gathered by the police much more quickly,
avoiding potential evidence becoming contaminated and giving
answers to the victims by stating in law that, once a blood
sample is taken, it can be tested. This seems particularly
uncontroversial, especially as the most intrusive part of this
process—the blood sample being taken—is already legal.
Claire has been so brave and courageous since her daughter passed
away, and it is a testament to her selflessness, strength and
resilience that, in spite of all that has happened, she is
prepared to fight for justice and ensure that no other family
experiences the same fate as hers. The petition supporting
Sharlotte's law has had more than 5,500 signatures. We have
received the endorsement of leading drink-driving charities such
as Brake, SCARD and the Campaign Against Drink Driving, as well
as the unanimous support of Stoke-on-Trent City Council,
Staffordshire's police, fire and crime commissioner, , and The Sentinel newspaper.
Claire and I have met the Lord Chancellor and the former Roads
Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for North West Durham
(Mr Holden), to discuss our campaign. I was pleased last week to
meet the current Minister—the Under-Secretary of State for
Transport, my hon. Friend the hon. Member for Hexham ()—who updated me on the upcoming call for evidence
and consultation for victims of drink-driving incidents. This is
absolutely vital because victims of these tragic cases need to be
able to explain how it feels when the law is working against
them.
However, having been informed late last year that this process
would be starting imminently, I urge the Minister to provide a
specific timeframe for when this will take place. Victims of
drink driving incidents need to be prioritised, and this cannot
come soon enough. I hope that during the process, when it comes,
the Minister and his officials will back Claire and me in our
ambition to put victims first, and to change to section 7A of the
Road Traffic Act 1988 to introduce Sharlotte's law.
Before I conclude, I would like to take this opportunity to
praise the hard work of Councillors Dave Evans and Carl Edwards,
as well as the Norton Green Residents Association, who have
relentlessly campaigned since this very tragic accident for new
measures to slow down traffic along Endon Road to keep residents
safe.
I am extremely proud that this Bill has the support of Members
from across the House. This place always works far better when we
work together, and I want to thank my right hon. and hon. Friends
who are backing this important legislation. This law is
imperative. The trauma and torture of losing a loved one is
impossible to imagine, let alone when it then appears that the
law is blocking someone's hope for justice. I want to see this
legislation changed for Sharlotte and other victims of these
heinous crimes, so that when their families, friends and
communities go through untold grief, they can have confidence
that the legal system will protect and support them, not the
monsters who get behind a wheel with no thought for anyone
else.
More than anything, Claire Reynolds, who saw the murderer who
killed her six-year-old daughter put away for just two years
after going through eleven weeks of pain in not knowing what put
him behind the wheel on that day, deserves to see the law changed
so that no family suffers as hers did. If anything, her
selflessness deserves it.
Question put and agreed to.
Ordered,
That , Sir , Dame , , , , , , , , and present the Bill.
accordingly presented the
Bill.
Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 14
June, and to be printed (Bill 210).
