Hit-and-run driver's suspended sentence 'disgusting'

Ryan Saltern's body was found on a road near the village of St Teath

The family of a man killed in a hit and run has said the sentence given to the driver who hit him is "disgusting".

Wayne Shilling, 39, of St Teath, was given a suspended sentence of four months after admitting failing to stop and report an accident.

He was driving home from a carnival in St Teath in July 2019 when he hit Ryan Saltern, who died at the scene.

Mr Saltern's mother Helen said the sentence made her son's life "feel so worthless".

Shilling was also disqualified from driving for 12 months, given an evening curfew for four months and ordered to pay a £207 victim surcharge and prosecution costs.

He had been drinking at a bar at the carnival and according to one witness was "away with the fairies".

While driving home, he hit Mr Saltern, although police were only told of his involvement 36 hours after the crash by a member of his family.

Mr Saltern's body was dragged beneath the car

"Ryan didn't have a bad bone in his body, and Wayne Shilling broke every one," said Mrs Saltern.

"Hearing the horrific injuries our son sustained and the distance he was dragged beneath the car, not only shocked us to the core, it made us feel physically sick.

"Wayne Shilling lost his licence for 12 months - our son lost his life, we lost our son, Leanne lost a brother, Cath lost her husband and our little grandson has lost his father," she added.

The family said they were meeting with Scott Mann MP, to ask for a stand-alone law on hit-and-run crashes with a custodial sentence that cannot be suspended.

Currently, hit-and-run drivers face a maximum sentence of six months where there is no other evidence of careless or dangerous driving.

However, the Ministry of Justice last year said it was "committed to changing the law so that drivers who kill can receive life sentences, up from the current maximum of 14 years".