Family of four-year-old girl killed by hit and run driver are not allowed to read out parts of their victim statement in court in case it upsets her killer
- Violet-Grace Youens was hit by the driver of a stolen car at more than 80mph
- Father, Glenn, slammed criminal justice system for ‘letting his daughter down’
- Killer Aidan McAteer won’t have to hear details of Violet-Grace’s horrific injuries
The grieving father of a four-year-old who was killed by the driver of a stolen car has slammed the criminal justice system for ‘letting his daughter down’.
Violet-Grace Youens’s parents are not allowed to read out their full victim impact statement, including details of her horrific injuries, in court in case their daughter’s killer is upset by it.
The four-year-old was knocked down by a black Ford car as she walked home with her grandmother in St Helens, Merseyside, in March 2017.
The grieving father of a four-year-old who was killed by the driver of a stolen car has slammed the criminal justice system for ‘letting his daughter down’ by not allowing him and his wife to read their victim impact statement in full
Driver Aidan McAteer and his passenger, Dean Brennan, 27, then ignored her body while fleeing the scene before leaving the country.
McAteer, then 23, pleaded guilty to causing Violet-Grace’s death by dangerous driving and was jailed for nine years and four months but could be eligible for early release.
Violet-Grace’s father, Glenn Youens (pictured with her mother, Alicia), spoke out after a Merseyside MP said that his daughter’s killer won the right to have parts of her parents’ victim impact statement changed to spare his feelings at sentencing
Violet-Grace’s father, Glenn Youens, spoke out after a Merseyside MP said that his daughter’s killer won the right to have parts of her parents’ victim impact statement changed to spare his feelings at sentencing.
While tending his daughter’s grave Mr Youens said: ‘We were not allowed to show our emotions in court or to read the statement in full because it would be too upsetting for him to hear it. Violet-Grace was only four-and-a-half years old when she was killed.
‘A lot of people don’t realise the victim’s family is not being put first. It’s as if we’re the ones who have done something wrong.’
‘We wanted McAteer to know from us what he did to Violet-Grace, but we weren’t allowed to because it wasn’t fair on him.
‘No-one I know feels justice has been served or that he’s had anything like enough time in prison.
‘I’m having to clean my daughter’s headstone while he’s counting the days till he gets home.’
On the day of the crash McAteer drove the stolen Fiesta ST3, which had cloned number plates, at 80mph in a 30mph area of St Helens.
He went through two red lights before spinning out of control and hitting 55-year-old Angela French, who was carrying her granddaughter.
The car hit a lamppost and the defendants got out of the driver’s door and ran past Violet-Grace’s body to make their escape.
The four-year-old was knocked down by a black Ford car as she walked home with her grandmother in St Helens, Merseyside, in March 2017. Driver Aidan McAteer (left) and his passenger, Dean Brennan, 27, (right) then ignored her body while fleeing the scene before leaving the country
In May 2017 Liverpool Crown Court was told that Mrs Angela French, a former nurse, was facing the possibility of amputation and may never walk again.
McAteer fled the country after knocking down Violet-Grace, but was arrested on his return and pleaded guilty at his trial – meaning his sentence was reduced by 25 per cent.
Mr Youens said: ‘I’d rather it had gone to trial if it meant he’d get so much as another day in prison.
‘What kind of society have we become that we accept this as normal?’
Mr Youens said: ‘A lot of people don’t realise the victim’s family is not being put first. It’s as if we’re the ones who have done something wrong.’ Pictured is the scene of the hit-and-run
Mr Youens revealed the sections of statement the family were unable to read out concerned graphic descriptions of the horrific injuries Violet-Grace suffered, of her last moments before her death, and how she looked before she was buried, which took place four weeks after her death.
He added: ‘McAteer should have had to hear that.’
McAteer, who admitted causing death by dangerous driving, was jailed for nine years and four months at Liverpool Crown Court.
His passenger Dean Brennan, who helped him to flee the country, was handed a sentence of six years and eight months.
In March a petition demanding a life sentence for those who cause death by dangerous driving hit 100,000 signatures on the anniversary of Violet-Grace’s death.
In March a petition demanding a life sentence for those who cause death by dangerous driving hit 100,000 signatures on the anniversary of Violet-Grace’s death. On Monday, MPs gathered in Parliament to debate the introduction of ‘Violet-Grace’s Law’, which would open up the possibility of life sentences for those convicted of causing death by dangerous driving
On Monday, MPs gathered in Parliament to debate the introduction of ‘Violet-Grace’s Law’, which would open up the possibility of life sentences for those convicted of causing death by dangerous driving.
Marie Rimmer, the MP for St Helens South and Whiston, told the debate that McAteer’s barrister successfully objected to the parents’ full statement.
She said: ‘The judge accepted this and the CPS barrister gave the parents a copy of their impact statement with parts they could not read out in open court highlighted.
‘The whole purpose of the victim impact statement is the impact on the victims and the survivors, not the defendant.
‘Guidance should be given to the judiciary that the overriding consideration is for the victim and their family, not whether the impact statement may upset the defendant.’
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