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Father still hopes for Amy’s Law despite Queen’s Speech blank
Jonathon Dillon19/ 5/2005
A FATHER who has been fighting for justice for his dead daughter is confident the Government has listened to his pleas for a change in the law, despite his suggestion being absent from this week's Queen's Speech.
Paul Houston's daughter Amy, 12, died two years ago after she was hit by a car being driven by failed asylum seeker Aso Mohammed Ibrahim, who was banned from driving at the time.
As there was no evidence of dangerous driving, Ibrahim spent just four months behind bars for driving while disqualified and failing to stop after an accident.
Since then, Mr Houston, of Russia Street, Accrington, has been fighting for tougher sentences for banned drivers who take other people's lives.
His campaign has received the backing of several MPs, including Greg Pope and Jack Straw, and Paul has also received a personal letter from the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who has promised to get Amy's Law, as it has been dubbed by supporters, on the statute book.
Following the Queen's Speech on Tuesday, Paul said: "I am a little disappointed but still optimistic. I wrote to the Prime Minister and he may have come under criticism in the past but he sent me a personal reply saying it will happen.
"I believe he is a sincere man and a man of his word. It is just a case of waiting and seeing now. I am pleased with the response I have got from the people of Lancashire, which I am grateful for.
"Greg Pope has been fantastic and I can't thank him enough. I think the Government will do something about it because of the number of people dying on the roads.
"Every day you can open up a newspaper and read about someone who has been driving while disqualified who has killed someone. These people should be held accountable. If they flout the law, they should pay the penalty."
The Queen's Speech did, however, include a new Road Safety Bill and Hyndburn's MP Mr Pope believes Amy's Law could be included in that in the future.
He said: "The important thing is that we have a piece of legislation that we can use to get Amy's Law passed.
"The Queen listed a number of Bills and some grabbed the headlines more than others. But some of these are hundreds of pages long and we can make amendments to them when they are brought before Parliament.
"I have been given an assurance from the Home Office that Amy's Law will be included and I am confident the Government won't backtrack on this.
"It takes time to get legislation through Parliament as you have to persuade officials and ministers. If we got it through in 12 months, we would have done well.
"The Home Office minister Caroline Flint even sought me out after she heard about the campaign, so that is a very good sign and she was being pro-active."
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27/05/2005 at 16:32