Family 'torn apart' by drink-drive death

"It's really reckless to destroy a whole family and tear it apart."

Fourteen-year-old Hugo is speaking out for the first time since his brother Aidan was killed when riding home on his motorcycle just days before his 20th birthday.

A driver who was twice the legal drink-driving limit hit him head-on near Wisborough Green, West Sussex in June 2024.

On the morning he found out about his brother's death, Hugo said he "just cried".

"[I] didn't want to do anything," he said. "It was really quiet and it wasn't normal for it to be quiet."

Hugo said it was a "strange thing to experience".

"You don't see your family how you normally see them," he told BBC South East. "Everyone's different because it's all sad and it's not nice."

Aidan Venison's mother Tracy wants harsher penalties for repeat offenders.

She said she was "appalled" by the sentence given to the driver who killed her son.

Toby Spiring, 28, was sentenced to eight years in prison and given a five year driving ban from the date of his release.

He must take an extended re-test if he wishes to drive again.

The government says it is consulting on implementing harsher sentences and reducing the drink-drive limit in England and Wales.

Spiring's sentence was reduced due to an early guilty plea and he could be released on licence – only spending part of his sentence in jail.

Tracy Venison describes how she was "relieved he was finally in prison".

But she says she was "also quite bitter and quite angry" because she "didn't feel like it was enough".

"It's like we've got rules in place but they're floppy rules," she said.

"What's the point of having severe penalties in place if you're not going to apply them in severe cases?"

She also wants to see those convicted of the offence receive a disqualification from driving for life, especially for those with a previous a conviction for a drink or drug driving offence.

Her son's killer had one previous conviction from July 2018 for drug driving and driving whilst uninsured. He was fined and disqualified for 12 months.

The government published its Road Safety Strategy in early January in which it said it was consulting on reviewing the penalties and mandatory training for drink and drug driving offences.

It is also looking at potential use of "alcolocks" for repeat offenders - a car device that requires the driver to take a breath test before starting their vehicle.

Tracy Venison's local MP, Conservative Andrew Griffith, said the idea that Spiring could be "behind the wheel of a car once more in their lifetime, is too much".

"We should look to have that ban," he added.

In December, forces across the country cracked down on drink and drug driving in a month-long operation. In Sussex, 279 people were arrested, in Kent there were 301 arrests and in Surrey, 369 arrests were made, a record for the force.

Previous calls for the implementation lifetime driving bans for those convicted of causing death by dangerous or careless driving have been met by some concern.

Labour MP Sarah Russell told Parliament in October that for dangerous driving "the minimum requirement for that can be simply a momentary lapse of concentration".

She added that she was not "suggesting for a moment" where a death was involved that it "should go unpunished".

"But a potential full lifetime driving ban if someone's made a momentary lapse of concentration at 19 and still couldn't drive at 55, doesn't feel proportionate," she said.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "This was a tragic incident, and our thoughts remain with Aidan's family and friends.

"Drink driving is unacceptable, and its consequences are devastating.

"That's why our new Road Safety Strategy will consult to lower drink-driving limits, implement harsher sentences and bring in new powers to suspend driving licenses."

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