MORE than 1,000 people have today signed a petition to increase sentences for dangerous drivers - and now is the time to add your voice to those calling for Justice for Jamie.

Speaking on ITV’s Daybreak this morning, the heartbroken parents of crash victim Jamie Butcher told the nation that his death ‘ripped the heart’ out of their family.

Student Jamie was mown down and killed on a pelican crossing in Churchill Road, Wisbech, in February last year. Michael Moore, of Murrow Lane, Parson Drove, was doing almost twice the speed limit and had run a red light when he hit the 22-year-old.

He was jailed for just 43 months in April. His sentence prompted this newspaper and MP Steve Barclay to join forces with Jamie’s mother Tina, sister Hollie and stepfather Steve Green to demand tougher punishments in death by dangerous driving cases.

The Justice for Jamie campaign, launched in The Wisbech Standard in July, has today gone national.

Mr Barclay joined the family for two interviews on ITV’s Daybreak and national newspapers are reporting shocking statistics revealed by the campaign.

Representatives from road safety charity Brake have also spoke out in support of Justice for Jamie.

Julie Townsend, the charity’s deputy chief executive, said: “Deaths and injuries on roads cause horrendous suffering every day. These needless casualties are sudden, violent and result in devastation for the bereaved and injured victims.

“It is therefore vital that drivers who kill and injure receive appropriate punishments, which reflect the suffering they have caused, and make clear that society will not tolerate dangerous, destructive driving.

“Yet at present, many bereaved families find it difficult to comprehend the injustice of a lenient punishment for their loved one’s killer.

“This campaign is crucial because letting off drivers who kill with lenient sentences, or sometimes no jail term at all, implies that driving dangerously, even when it results in loss of life and terrible suffering, is only a minor transgression.

“These crimes must be treated more seriously, with fitting punishments handed out, to convince the public that taking risks on roads is unacceptable, and prevent these tragedies happening in the first place.”

• SIGN the petition and help get Justice for Jamie by visiting www.stopdangerousdrivers.com

• SUPPORT the campaign on Twitter @justiceforjamie and by searching for the Justice for Jamie Facebook group.

• READ more about Justice for Jamie by clicking on the related links on the right hand side of this page.