A FORMER councillor whose daughter was killed in a car crash today backed MP Julia Drown's campaign to hand tougher sentences to dangerous drivers.

It is nearly seven years since former Walcot councillor Vicky Byrne lost her 14-year-old daughter Michelle when the car she was travelling in smashed into a tree in Broome Manor Lane in October 1996.

The driver, Jamie Baker, of Furlong Close, Haydon Wick, was 20 when he admitted causing death by careless driving having consumed excess alcohol. He was sentenced to 12 months at a young offenders' institute, only to be released within six months.

Now Mrs Byrne has thrown her weight behind a campaign supported by the South Swindon MP, to stop motorists guilty of death by dangerous driving escaping with light sentences.

The Government plans to increase the maximum sentence available to the courts from 10 to 14 years, under legislation before Parliament.

But Ms Drown has demanded that the most irresponsible motorists be charged with manslaughter which carries a maximum sentence of life.

And she wants dangerous drivers after they are released from prison to be electronically tagged to ensure they do not get behind a wheel again.

Ms Byrne, 57, of Lennox Drive, Walcot, said: "Even the police appealed with me against his unduly lenient sentence. I was going to take out a private prosecution, but I never got round to talking to a solicitor.

"The sentence was ridiculous they might as well have just slapped his hand and told him he was a naughty boy.

"It seems the courts don't use the powers given to them by Parliament anyway, but I can have no complaints about the police they were excellent.

"I agree that these people should be charged with manslaughter because at the moment the law is weighted towards the perpetrators of crime, not the victims.

"Sometimes I think it's worse now because I think of all the things Michelle should be doing, like getting married and having children."

Michelle, a former pupil at St Joseph's School, was a back seat passenger when the modified Audi 80, driven by Baker, crashed into a tree she would have celebrating her 21st birthday in June.

Mrs Byrne became a councillor to petition for traffic lights and safety measures after a friend's daughter was knocked down and killed on Drakes Way.

Ms Drown said she believed drivers high on drink or drugs, those driving without a licence and repeat offenders, should face manslaughter charges.

She is among more than 50 MPs who have signed an early day motion, a device for MPs to put pressure on the Government to act, urging it to amend the Criminal Justice Bill to toughen up jail terms.

The motion also calls for passengers in cars driven by dangerous drivers to be held as accessories to the crime in certain circumstances.

The Criminal Justice Bill, which is expected to become law by the summer, is at the centre of the Government's pledge to 'rebalance justice in favour of the victim'.

A Home Office spokesman said it was already possible for someone suspected of death by dangerous driving to face a manslaughter charge, but only in exceptional circumstances.