A North East mum who began campaigning for change after her partner was killed by a drink and drug-fuelled driver is set to meet with the Government.
Carol King, 31, discovered she was having Richard Gray Jordan's second baby after he was killed in a car crash on the A19 near Houghton-le-Spring. The 33-year-old, who was known as Richie, had been travelling in a Mercedes driven by his work colleague Mark Thompson.
Newcastle Crown Court heard how Thompson clocked more than 121mph before ploughing into the back of a Vauxhall Corsa in August 2019. Ritchie, who was a non-league footballer, was sent flying from the vehicle.
Read next: Tributes to pioneering cancer campaigner, 92, whose family has been 'devastated' by the disease
He died from his injuries and Thompson's front seat passenger, Lewis Atkinson, suffered a bleed on the brain.
A blood test later revealed that Thompson, who has previous driving convictions, was over the legal limit for alcohol and Benzoylecgonine, a breakdown product of cocaine.
The 42-year-old, of Seaton Crescent in Seaham, County Durham, admitted causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving. He was jailed for six years and eight months at the court in Newcastle in August 2021.
Carol said that during the two years, between Richie's death and his sentencing hearing, Thompson was still allowed to drive on the roads. This is because, as it stands, a driver's licence is not revoked until there is a relevant criminal conviction.
The mum-of-two launched a campaign to change the process whereby motorists suspected of being at fault in a serious or fatal collision have their licences temporarily suspended while an investigation continues.
She said she sees the change as being similar to someone having their licence temporarily revoked for the failure of a roadside eye-test. She believes it would give people peace of mind and it would be an immediate acknowledgment of how serious the offences are.
Carol has been backed by her local MP Bridget Phillipson and they will both meet representatives from the Department for Transport at Westminster to discuss her campaign on Monday, May 15.
Carol, who lives in East Herrington, Sunderland, said: "I’m feeling optimistic. It has to count for something that a call for evidence is being produced. Unless someone brings it to the table it can't be fully recognised.
"All I am asking is for information to be shared as it is done in cases of an individual having a medical condition.
"There should never be a scenario whereby someone is suspected at being at fault, involving a fatality, and them be openly permitted to carry on driving. Particularly when those individuals have a history of driving offences.
"The improvement and increasingly more accurate roadside alcohol and drug analysis, as well as the increasing numbers of dash cams, capture the dangerous and careless driving on our roads."
The meeting was facilitated by Bridget Phillipson, Labour MP for Houghton and Sunderland South. Carol has been working alongside her to bring about a change in procedure since December 2021.
She said: "Together we have conducted meetings with police and also CPS to gather information and to give Bridget a more accurate legal perspective on my own experience, which is shared by so many."
Carol said the House of Commons library has been referenced and there has been correspondence with the Department for Transport. She said Bridget has met with the Baroness Charlotte Vere of Norbiton and has corresponded with the current secretary state for transport, MP Mark Harper.
Carol found out she was expecting his second child weeks after saying goodbye to Ritchie, her partner of four-and-a-half years.
She gave birth to Richie's second daughter, who she named Gray Isabella Jordan after her dad, just before the first Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020.
Carol, who works as an Admin Officer at HM Passport Office, is now bringing up their daughters Quinn, five, and Gray, three, with help from supportive family.
She previously said: "It just seemed fitting to name her after her dad. She’s been a huge comfort. Richie idolised Quinn so I can only imagine the love he would have had for the both of them."
In October last year, Carol was stunned to discover that Thompson would be moved to a category D prison, known as an open prison, after just 14 months behind bars.
Open prisons have minimal security and allow eligible prisoners to spend most of their day away from the prison on licence to carry out work, education or for resettlement purposes.
At the time, Carol said: "The justice system is fundamentally flawed. I feel let down by the justice system. I feel I have been as understanding as I can with the constraints of the law.
"I think I'm very thick-skinned to everything now. It's re-emphasised why I'm pushing forward with the campaign. I don't want anybody to go through this.
"If anything, it's made me more determined in regard to the campaign."
Read next:
