The family of a woman killed after a high-speed race through residential streets says it is a “relief” the government was considering changing the law around defendants who are considered unfit to stand trial.
Sophie Brimble, 20, died after her boyfriend, Jay Bayliss, crashed into a lamp-post in Brynmawr, Blaenau Gwent, in July 2017, while driving at almost three times the speed limit. He was deemed too badly injured for criminal proceedings.
The family launched a petition to give courts greater powers in similar cases, after Bayliss was again declared unfit in 2026.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said it “agrees the law needs updating and is considering reforms”.
The petition, which has been signed by more than 10,000 people, calls for the government to reform the law on unfitness to plead – which is when a criminal defendant cannot stand trial because of their physical or mental condition.
It seeks to end the current situation where, if a jury finds someone caused serious harm or death in a trial of facts, the courts cannot apply “meaningful sanction”.
It requests for victim’s rights to justice to be considered, and for risks to public safety to be reduced, through increased court powers to apply measures including driving bans.
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