Michaela Bagley says her mother's life was not worth any more to a death-crash lorry driver than a satsuma.

That's what she alleges Barry Jillett was eating when his vehicle crashed into a car in which her mother Margaret Charlotte was fatally injured.

She made the point by thrusting the fruit into the hand of Mr Jillett after a court case in which he was fined £500 and ordered to pay £50 costs.

It was an extraordinary sentence on a man who was responsible for causing death through his appalling driving.

Police reduced the charge of dangerous driving to careless driving, which meant he could not be sent to prison.

If Mrs Charlotte had been murdered, the person responsible would have received a severe sentence. But because she died through a driving error, Mr Jillett was able to walk free from the court and soon get into a lorry again.

This shocking case follows several others in Sussex, including that of PC Jeff Tooley who was killed by a car on the A259 at Shoreham. The driver received a ludicrously light sentence for his offence.

The law badly needs changing so there is a means through which police are able to charge drivers such as Mr Jillett with serious offences and judges can jail them if necessary. Even more vital is the necessity of banning them for long periods.

It is so wrong that a driver who caused the sort of carnage he did should be able to get away with it under the law as it stands. Mrs Charlotte's life was worth infinitely more than either a satsuma or £550.