A speeding driver who killed two young brothers in a hit-and-run while high on drugs has had his nine-year jail term increased to 10-and-a-half years by the Court of Appeal.
Robert Brown was banned from driving, travelling at more than twice the speed limit and had taken a cocktail of drugs when he mowed down Corey and Casper Platt-May, aged six and two.
The boys were on their way to a park with their mother Louise Platt-May when they were struck by Brown’s Ford Focus as they crossed MacDonald Road, Coventry, in February.
Mrs Platt-May called for the government to introduce stiffer penalties for “drivers who think they are above the law” after Brown was jailed at Warwick Crown Court in April.
Speaking after Brown’s sentence was increased, the boys’ mother said: “The events of that day and having to witness your children die in front of you is something that our family will never get over.
“We will never forgive the driver for the way he ripped our family apart.
“Life without Corey and Casper is so difficult to put into words.
“Knowing we won’t see their cheeky smile or hear their infectious laugh again is heartbreaking.
“We are pleased that the driver has been given a longer prison sentence as what our family has had to go through, and will continue experience for the rest of our lives, highlights the need for the toughest possible sentences to be handed out to drivers who ruin lives.
“We repeat our call for the government to honour Corey and Casper’s legacy by ensuring proposals to introduce tougher sentences for drivers who kill are made law as soon as practically possible.”
Solicitor General Robert Buckland argued at a hearing earlier in July that Brown’s sentence was “unduly lenient”.
He asked Court of Appeal judges to consider whether the serial offender should have received two consecutive sentences – one for causing each boy’s death.
Sir Brian Leveson, hearing the case with two other leading judges, said the impact of Brown’s actions was to “destroy the lives of the boys” and forever damage the lives of those who loved them.