A couple whose teenage daughter was killed in a car crash today condemned the legal system after the driver walked from Court with a £750 fine.

Adele Barnes, 18, died when Christopher Dyer, then also 18, lost control of his Citroen Saxo on a wet road and smashed into a lamppost on the A650 Drighlington bypass in August last year.

Leeds Magistrates' Court yesterday heard that he had been travelling too fast for the road conditions.

Dyer, now 19, of Paddock Drive, Drighlington, admitted a charge of careless driving.

He was banned from driving for three years and ordered to pay his fine and £40 costs at a rate of £50 a month.

But after the hearing, Adele's father, Michael Barnes, said he believed Dyer should have been charged with causing death by dangerous driving that carries a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment.

"£50 a month is about six pints a week," he said. "Was my daughter's life worth less than a pint a day? It's an absolute insult to us and to Adele.

"£750 for someone's life is disgusting. There's no logic there. He wrecked our lives. My kid is dead and he is going home. My kid will never come home.

"I want to see stricter driving tests and stricter punishments to fit the crime."

Mr Barnes, 51 of Moorside Avenue, Drighlington and his wife Lynne were on holiday in Spain and had just returned from buying presents for Adele and her 16-year-old sister Stephanie when they were told of the tragedy.

"I remember throwing my glasses at the wall and my wife Lynne just collapsed and was screaming," said Mr Barnes.

Mrs Barnes, 50, said: "We are serving a life sentence. It will never go away.

"The punishment does not fit the crime. Everything was going right for Adele.

"She had just got a car and was over the moon because she had passed her driving theory test. She was always smiling.

"She was a popular young lady. We had 216 bereavement cards and 350 people came to her funeral. She was my best friend with Stephanie."

The court heard yesterday that Adele and Dyer were on their way to buy some cigarettes when the accident happened.

In mitigation, Dyer's solicitor John Batchelor said: "He was perhaps going a little fast for the conditions.

"He lost control. Even at low speed hitting the lamppost in that way was going to cause difficulties. Neither parties were wearing seat-belts.

"He has not driven since the accident. He has not felt that it would be appropriate.

"He never denies responsibility for this. He has been extremely upset about it. The sentence for him is that he will have to carry around the effects of the accident for some years."

District Judge Chris Darnton told Dyer: "There is no way that the clock can be turned back and you are going to have to live with this tragedy for the rest of your days.

"I have no doubt that, seeing your demeanour in court, this will be a very considerable scar.

"You are a young driver and though there is no direct evidence you were going at vast speed it has been touched on and that's probably what happened.

"You lost control of your car with the most dreadful unfortunate circumstances."

After the case a Crown Prosecution spokesman said the decision to charge Dyer with careless driving had been taken after careful consideration.

"Driving without due care and attention was felt to be the appropriate charge in this case, even though the incident resulted in a fatality," he said.

"We appreciate that such cases are distressing for the families involved, however the Crown must proceed on the appropriate charge or we could risk an unsuccessful outcome at court."

Dyer, who suffered minor injuries in the crash, had been driving for only a few months before the tragedy.

He had received a fixed penalty ticket for speeding about a month before the accident, the court heard.

At an inquest into Adele's death on Monday, West Yorkshire coroner David Hinchcliffe recorded a verdict of accidental death, telling Dyer that his speed had not been suitable in wet conditions.

Almost a year after her daughter's death, Mrs Barnes still visits Adele's grave every day in St Paul's churchyard, off Whitehall Road. Friends and family have also raised more than £3,000 to tidy up the overgrown graveyard.