Daniel Witter killed two people and wrecked countless other lives when, over the drink-drive limit, he ploughed a stolen Mercedes into another car at Apperley Bridge.

Judge Jonathan Durham described him as “worthless”, “despicable” and “one of the few young men not capable of living in a civilised society”.

He described the case as one of the worst of its kind he had ever come across.

And he described the victims of this dreadful crime, Janet Herd and Linda Tansley, as “priceless individuals”.

Yet he was only able to hand out a 12-year jail term because of sentencing rules.

We said at the time that the situation was wrong and that even a life sentence would not have been inappropriate.

Jennifer Herd, the eldest daughter of Janet, was one of the many who felt 12 years was not enough and, despite her grief, resolved to do something about it.

She is now collecting names on a petition to present to Number 10 calling for the law to be changed.

Miss Herd wants killer drivers such as Witter to be sentenced for each life they take and for them to serve each sentence consecutively.

Her campaign is both a tribute to the women who died and testimony to her own courage, and she deserves the respect and support of us all.

Meanwhile, the fact Witter is appealing against his sentence, after claiming he was devastated at what he had done and wanted closure for the families so they could grieve, only diminishes this selfish individual further.