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Death crash jail sentences 'not long enough'

VICTIM: Colleen van Rooyen
VICTIM: Colleen van Rooyen

THE brother of a single mother killed by the driving of two young men said their custody terms should have been longer.

Don van Rooyen, of Garlinge Green Road, Petham, was speaking after the sentencing of 20-year-olds Thomas Vidler and Luke Dixon.

He said no sentence could properly compensate for the loss of his sister Colleen, 39, in a head-on crash at Hollow Lane, Thanington, in February last year.

Vidler was sentenced to two years in a young offenders' institute and Dixon one year. Both were also banned from driving.

Mr van Rooyen said: "To be honest we thought the sentences and the driving bans should have been longer, but we understand the judge did everything under the powers available to her in law.

"We did not get the sense that the two men showed much remorse for their actions – that they were sorry at all – but that could have been their defence team."

* SEE THIS WEEK'S KENTISH GAZETTE FOR THE FULL STORY.

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