Rochdale family deliver road crime petition to Downing Street

The family of a man killed by a speeding driver in Greater Manchester have taken their campaign for tougher sentences to Downing Street.

Addil Haroon, 19, received a six-year sentence for killing 25-year-old Joseph Brown-Lartey in Rochdale in 2014.

He split Mr Brown-Lartey's car in half after driving at 80mph through a red light in a residential area.

Ian and Dawn Brown-Lartey delivered a petition signed by more than 20,000 people to the government.

Mr Brown-Lartey's family said the sentence was not long enough and are campaigning for tougher sentences for road crimes.

Dawn Brown-Lartey said: "There needs to be a deterrent and, basically, at the moment there is no deterrent."

She said numerous families "just get 18 months or two years in prison" which she said was "such a lenient sentence so there needs to be a change in the guidelines."

Haroon caused Mr Brown-Lartey's Audi A5 to split in half when he sped through a red light and crashed into him at the junction of Bury Road and Sandy Lane, Rochdale.

It happened hours after Haroon, of Essex Street, took a photograph of the speedometer at 142mph while speeding on the motorway in a hired Audi A6.

Sgt Paul Higgins, of Greater Manchester Police, said experienced traffic police officers described the crash scene as the "worst" they had ever seen.

Haroon pleaded guilty in May to causing death by dangerous driving and driving without a licence or insurance.

In June last year, Attorney General Jeremy Wright QC rejected calls to increase Haroon's jail sentence, saying he did not believe judges would find it unduly lenient.

Police and crime commissioner for Greater Manchester, Tony Lloyd, has backed the campaign.

"Justice for Joseph is about recognition that a life has been taken by reckless driving", he said.

"It is now time for a review - reckless driving puts lives at risk, let's treat it as something that does just that." he said.