'Our perfect daughter, four, did not get justice'

The parents of a four-year-old girl who was fatally hit by a stolen car driving at 83mph (134 km/h) have appealed for the criminal justice system to better reflect victims' and families' needs.

Violet-Grace Youens and her grandmother Angela French were crossing Prescot Road in St Helens, Merseyside, on 24 March 2017 when they were struck by a Ford Fiesta.

Driver Aidan McAteer, then 23, and passenger Dean Brennan were captured on CCTV running past the dying little girl and her severely injured grandmother.

McAteer, who fled to Amsterdam and only returned to the UK after an appeal by his mother, was jailed for nine years and four months for causing death and serious injury by dangerous driving.

Brennan, who was 27 at the time, admitted aggravated vehicle taking and assisting an offender. He was jailed for six years and eight months.

Both McAteer and Brennan were released on licence halfway through their prison terms, although McAteer had his time behind bars increased slightly after he was caught using social media while in custody.

Violet-Grace's parents, Becky and Glenn Youens, described the length of their prison sentences as "insulting".

Mrs Youens said the time they spent behind bars was only a few months longer than their little girl's life.

Eight years after their daughter's death, the Youens have launched a campaign called Justice for Victims.

They said they were "hopeful" politicians would listen sympathetically to their calls for those in the criminal justice system to have more regard for victims and their families.

Mrs Youens told BBC Radio Merseyside that Violet-Grace was "a cheeky, happy, loving and caring and compassionate four-year-old little girl who loved to dance".

Violet-Grace, who adored ballet, was "loved by all her friends and family," her mum added.

"She loved Trolls and Frozen and she was just the perfect daughter.

"She loved her baby brother - she was a beautiful soul."

Violet-Grace's parents decided to donate her organs.

Mrs Youens said this decision, made on Mother's Day, ultimately saved two lives.

Before Violet-Grace's funeral, her mother said she did her little girl's make-up.

"I had to do that as her mum because I needed her [to] go on her onward journey, knowing that she loved rifling through my make-up bag when she was alive and she just used to love make-up."

This act of love was something "no mother should have to do", she said.

A change in the law in 2022 increased the maximum sentence that judges could hand down to anyone convicted of causing death by dangerous driving, from 14 years to the possibility of life in prison.

Mr Youens said that while his family had supported this principle, he had yet to see a single case in which a life sentence had been passed.

"These new laws that are passed in people's memories are not just for making families feel better," he said. "Change needs to happen."

The family's campaign is backed by the parents of Sarah Everard, who was murdered by a serving Metropolitan Police officer now serving a whole-life prison sentence.

The stated aims of the Justice for Victims campaign are to "demand proper punishment for the worst offenders and sentencing laws that truly reflect the devastation caused by violent crimes".

The Youens said they had received "cross-party" support for their campaign and hoped it would lead to government.

"We don't want other families to face the injustice that we have," said Mrs Youens.

The Ministry of Justice has been approached by the BBC for comment.

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