'I don't want any other family being told their child has died'
"We were all there at the funeral, we've followed the family the whole way through, so it's nice to come full circle and be able to see that Keena's now able to educate the next generation of drivers," she said."Hopefully we don't have such a close connection and this kind of accident happening again."The driver of the car in which Ethan was a passenger in 2023 admitted causing death by dangerous driving and is due to be sentenced in August.Ms Entwistle wants to see the introduction of graduated driver licences which would see young drivers forbidden from carrying passengers of a similar age.
According to national road safety charity IAM RoadSmart, a fifth of all collisions in 2023 involved a young driver.Ms Entwistle was among a group of bereaved families who met MPs in June to advance the case for graduated driver licences.A spokesperson for the Department for Transport previously said the government was not considering graduated driving licences but recognised "that young people are disproportionately victims of tragic incidents on our roads".
'Scary on the roads'
Lacey, 17, is learning to drive and is one of a number of students at the school who support graduated driver licences."I think it's so important that we're mature enough to know what we're being held responsible for and who we're looking after," she said.Fellow student Kaitlyn said the idea of taking to the road as a qualified young driver was "almost daunting"."You could be the safest driver in the world but it's what other people are doing that impacts everything else," she said.James, who has just passed his test, said he tried to avoid driving at night."There's a lot of people out on the roads that are speeding they're obviously drunk sometimes as well," he said. "It's quite scary to be out on the roads."He added that he would be more cautious on the roads after hearing Ms Entwistle's story.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
26 minutes ago
- The Sun
Asylum seekers are still getting money on taxpayer-funded credit cards after being granted refugee status
ASYLUM seekers are still receiving money on taxpayer-funded credit cards even after being granted refugee status. A probe has been launched after we uncovered cases of migrants saying they were still getting the handouts - despite rules stating payments must stop once leave to remain is granted. It piles fresh pressure on the Home Office, which is already facing questions over the ASPEN card scheme after it emerged thousands of attempts were made to spend the cash in gambling venues. 1 One migrant wrote in a Facebook group: 'I was granted refugee status in January 2025. I'm still getting money on my ASPEN card… do I need to inform the Home Office or will it stop automatically?' Another user replied: 'I know someone else this happened to. But he had payments for a whole year. 'He did not touch the money as the Home Office could ask you to refund if you are not entitled to this.' Another admitted they are getting payments for dependants who have gone home. When asylum seekers arrive in the UK, they are typically housed in fully catered hotels and receive £9.95 a week on their ASPEN card, rising to £49.18 a week if they are later moved to self-catered accommodation. A Home Office spokesperson said: 'The Home Office rules state that – when an individual ceases to qualify for support – their subsistence payments will automatically end, and their card will be cancelled, after a short transitional period. 'As part of our investigation into the functioning of Aspen cards, we will look into any instances where cards have not been cancelled as intended, and take whatever action is necessary to correct any faults.' The Tories last night insisted it was 'further evidence' Labour has 'lost control of the immigration system'. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: 'We have seen luxury hotels provided for illegal immigrants, record ever numbers crossing the channel, rapes and sex offences being committed by asylum seekers, taxpayers' money being used to fund gambling by illegal immigrants and now we find they can't even switch the payment cards off when they should. 'This system has become a complete farce. No wonder it costs billions each year. It is an insult to taxpayers that illegal immigrants get better treatment than they do.' Reform UK's Richard Tice also let rip: 'We keep being told that there is no waste in government yet it's clear to see taxpayers are being taken for a ride by asylum seekers. 'The solution to this is simple. If you stop the boats, you stop the benefits and the enormous costs that are associated with illegal crossings. Only Reform will do this.' The wider investigation into ASPEN card misuse began earlier this week, after a Freedom of Information request by PoliticsHome revealed more than 6,500 gambling-related transactions had been attempted by asylum seekers in the past year. Although online gambling was blocked, migrants were able to use the cards in physical sites such as casinos, slot machine arcades and lottery retailers. In some cases, they withdrew cash in or near gambling venues. There are currently around 80,000 ASPEN card users in the UK.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
DAN HODGES: This is why I think Farage and Rayner are right - Britain is now a nation on the brink
Becky lives about ten minutes from The Bell Hotel in Epping. She used to pass by it when she went for a stroll with her daughter on nearby Bell Common. But that stopped when the asylum seekers arrived. 'I drive her past here now,' she tells me. 'It doesn't feel safe.' It's why she's joined the small group of protesters standing by steel railings, and surrounded by a polite, but large, group of police officers.
Telegraph
4 hours ago
- Telegraph
Khan branded a coward after refusing TV debate with Farage
Sir Sadiq Khan has been accused of 'cowardice' after refusing a televised debate with Nigel Farage on crime in London. The Labour Mayor of London turned down Mr Farage's offer of a head-to-head showdown as it emerged that shoplifting in the capital had risen by more than half in the past year. It comes after the Reform UK leader launched a 'six-week offensive' of policy announcements with a particular focus on crime and punishment. Mr Farage told The Telegraph: 'Labour have been in government for over a year. 'Sadiq Khan has nowhere to hide any more – the blame for his record in office lies solely at his feet. He has failed Londoners. London is lawless and London needs Reform.' However, a spokesman for Sir Sadiq dismissed Mr Farage's offer as a 'political stunt' and claimed the Mayor was 'too busy working for Londoners to get crime down' to take part. The Reform leader replied: 'It's just extraordinary and cowardly, and everyone knows that London is becoming lawless. What is Khan afraid of? I don't bite.' A crime survey released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) last week found shoplifting in London had increased by 53 per cent over the last 12 months to March. The rise was the steepest of anywhere in the country, while London also accounted for 16,344 knife crime incidents, an annual rise of nine per cent. London also accounted for a third of all knife offences in England and Wales. A spokesman for Sir Sadiq said: 'The Mayor is too busy working for Londoners to get crime down to get involved in political stunts. 'Nothing's more important to the Mayor than keeping Londoners safe. Sadiq is determined to do all he can to tackle crime and its complex causes, which is why he has invested record sums in the police and in providing positive opportunities for young people. 'Sadiq is building on the progress that's been achieved in London with the number of young people being injured with a knife, homicides, lethal barrel discharge, and burglary all down since 2016.' The Mayor's office said the number of teenage murders in London was at its lowest rate since 2003, while the number of under-25s killed was at its lowest since 2013. Sir Sadiq's spokesman added: All this has been achieved despite government austerity since 2010.' At a press conference last week, Mr Farage pledged to send Britain's worst offenders to jail in El Salvador as part of a five-year plan to halve crime rates. The £17.4 billion scheme, which also seeks to boost police numbers and prison places, would see the introduction of new rules to increase the number of jail sentences handed down by judges. The El Salvador idea is based on a similar policy by Donald Trump, who is paying the Latin American country billions of dollars to house offenders. Sir Sadiq holds direct responsibility for policing in London as the city's mayor and de facto police and crime commissioner. Under his watch, violent crime has soared from 190,000 incidents in 2016/17, when he first came to power, to 250,000 in 2023/24. Transport for London's crime and anti-social behaviour report in 2023 showed a total rise in offences of 56.5 per cent. This included a 158 per cent jump in crimes involving offensive weapons and a 107 per cent rise in robbery. Sir Sadiq is planning to shut the front counters in 13 of the 32 Metropolitan Police stations that are open 24 hours a day. He had pledged in his 2024 mayoral election manifesto to 'maintain a 24-hour police front office counter in every borough'. However, he said he would need to sign off on the closures and claimed government spending plans had left the Met with a £260 million black hole in his budget. Eleven more of the 32 stations would switch to reduced opening hours, leaving just eight front counters staffed around the clock.
