Houghton-le-Spring killer driver's jail sentence review withdrawn

Paula Tiffin, 52, died from her injuries two days after the crash

A driver's jail sentence for killing a mother in a crash during a police chase will no longer be reviewed to determine whether it was too lenient.

Bradley Webb hit a wall in Houghton-le-Spring after driving through red lights and on the wrong side of the road.

Passenger Paula Tiffin was seriously injured in the crash and later died.

Following a ruling not to increase the jail term in a similar case, a referral to the Court of Appeal to consider Webb's sentence has now been withdrawn.

The trial judge said Bradley Webb had driven "in an appalling manner"

The Solicitor General's office said a referral under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme could only be made if a sentence was "not just lenient but unduly so" and where a "gross error" had been made by the sentencing judge.

"After careful consideration of a similar case recently referred to the Court of Appeal where the sentence was not increased, it has been concluded that this referral can no longer properly be made," a spokesperson said.

"The threshold is a high one, and the recent case law now indicates it was not met in this case."

'Devastating loss'

The pursuit in August last year began with Webb, 25, being followed by officers from Durham Police and then crossed into the neighbouring Northumbria Police area.

Ms Tiffin, a mother-of-11 from Washington, was seriously injured in the crash and died two days later in hospital.

Another woman, Diane Coffell, who was in the back of the car, was also seriously injured in the crash.

Webb, then of Queen Street in Sunderland, admitted causing death by dangerous driving and was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison.

Judge Stephen Earl said Webb had driven "in an appalling manner to evade capture by police".

The Solicitor General expressed his sympathies to Ms Tiffin's family "for their devastating loss".