The family of a man who tumbled to his death from a taxi have condemned an appeal court decision to slash the jail sentence of the driver responsible.

Iain Cain, 31, sustained fatal head injuries when he fell out of Nazam Khan's cab in Halifax Road, Cullingworth, in October 2005.

Khan zig-zagged along the road with the passenger door open at speeds of up to 50mph after a row over the fare, before leaving Mr Cain, of Lodge Street, Cullingworth, for dead.

Jailing him for seven years last July for causing death by dangerous driving, Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC described Khan, 56, of Ellercroft Terrace, Lidget Green, Bradford, as "cowardly".

But last week the Court of Appeal in London reduced his sentence to five years and halved his driving ban to five years. It dismissed his appeal against conviction.

Mr Cain's sister, Michelle, 35, said she was appalled at the appeal court's decision.

Michelle, of Wibsey, Bradford, said: "The original sentence was not excessive. He took someone's life and just left him to die in the road. Who knows what would have happened if he had phoned for an ambulance straight away.

"But he tried to the end to worm his way out of it. He doesn't deserve any leniency.

"He'll serve something like two and a half years - is that all a human life is worth?

"The family get absolutely no say in this. We didn't even get the courtesy of being informed that this was happening. My mum spoke to the police family liaison officer and they didn't even know. We didn't know until we saw it in the paper."

Michelle also criticised the reduction in Khan's driving ban. "He should never be able to get behind the wheel again," she said.

Iain's mother, Andrea Cain, said: "How is it that no-one had the decency to let me or my family know that this man has virtually been told we'll cut your sentence because the life you took was only worth five years and a five-year driving ban.' "There's no justice in this country any more and life is held very cheaply. The victims of crime are poorly treated by the police and justice system.

"The man who did this to my son never even expressed grief for killing him."

A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service West Yorkshire said it was normal practice to inform the family of an appeal once a date had been set.

She said: "In this case the Court of Appeal decided to deal with the appeal instead of setting a later date. The Court of Appeal has accepted responsibility for not following normal procedures which has meant we were unable to notify the family in time. We will be writing to the family to explain what happened."

e-mail: steve.wright@bradford.newsquest.co.uk

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