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'No justice' for boy, 14, who 'died in M6 terror'

Phil CunliffeNorth West
News imageKim Walker A young teenaged boy with brown hair looks happily into the camera while being embraced by his mother, who has shoulder length reddish brown hair. Kim Walker
Kim Walker said she wanted tougher sentences for killer drivers after her son Ryan died in a motorway crash

The family of a Lancashire teenager who died when his father caused a motorway crash while high on cocaine have demanded tougher sentences for killer drivers.

Ryan Morgan was killed on Easter Sunday, two weeks before his 15th birthday, when Daniel Burba lost control of a van they were travelling in near Lancaster on the M6.

Burba, who had never passed a driving test, suffered an epileptic fit behind the wheel and it later emerged the 31-year-old had ignored warnings by doctors not to drive due to his risk of seizures.

In the moments before the van hit a tree, witnesses saw Ryan desperately trying to steer it. A court heard the young teenager had "died in terror".

Burba has been told he must serve at least two-thirds of a 10-year prison sentence and has been disqualified from driving for 14 years and five months.

Ryan's mother Kim Walker and grandmother Ann Bell have told the BBC they believe Burba's punishment is unduly lenient.

News imagePhil Cunliffe/BBC Ann Bell, who has grey hair and a chequered blouse, sits on a couch She is looking into the camera with a sombre expression. Phil Cunliffe/BBC
Ann Bell said she was angry Daniel Burba could get parole in less than seven years

"Ryan wouldn't have even been 20 before [Burba] is going to be walking around again," Ms Walker pointed out.

"It's nothing, is it? There's no justice for Ryan, is there?"

Asked how she felt about the possibility of Burba potentially being legally able to drive in future, Ms Walker said: "I don't think he should ever get behind a wheel again."

Ms Bell said they were calling for new legislation, to be known as Ryan's Law, to increase the minimum sentences of offenders convicted of killing somebody while driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Ms Walker failed in her bid to appeal against Burba's jail term but has now started a petition calling for harsher minimum sentences.

She also said she wanted anyone convicted of causing death by dangerous driving under such circumstances to never be able to reapply for a licence.

News imageLancashire Police Police photograph of Daniel Burba, who has short brown hair and a brown stubble-beard and is wearing a white T-shirt.Lancashire Police
Burba had been warned about his drug habit and told not to drive

The online petition needs 10,000 signatures before it is acknowledged by the government and 100,000 to be considered for debate in Parliament.

Ms Walker said that since launching the campaign she has come to realise how many people thought highly of her son.

"I've had a lot of people say how nice he was, like they knew Ryan when he was a teenager and what an amazing boy he was," she said.

"So that's really nice that like he affected so many people in that way."

News imageLancashire Police A boy with brown hair swept over to one side, and wearing a navy hoodie, smiles at the camera, standing outside.Lancashire Police
Ryan Morgan tried to steer the van after his father passed out behind the wheel

Ryan was an avid fan of Blackpool FC and he will be remembered by the club before their home fixture against Bradford on 4 January, alongside other supporters who have died during the last 12 months.

Ms Walker said: "He loved to play football ever since he was little.

"And when he lived down [in Blackpool], he went and trained with them, so he grew to like them, he got a season ticket, and yeah, he just loved them."

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