THE distraught family of a popular North-wich girl killed when her boyfriend crashed his car have criticised the 'devastating' sentence he was given.

And they are demanding a change in the law that would have meant the driver would be jailed for five years.

Kirsty Dyson, 23, a personal assistant at Gadbrook Park-based recruitment firm Leads2Business, died at the scene of the accident on July 24 last year when boyfriend Martin Roberts lost control of his BMW on the A56 between Mickle Trafford and Dunham on the Hill.

Roberts, 24, was fined £500 and banned from driving for six months at Chester Crown Court last month after a jury found him guilty of careless driving rather than the original charge of causing death by dangerous driving. The judge handed him the maximum penalty allowed for the offence.

Kirsty's brother Gareth Dyson, 28, said there was 'no justice'. He said: 'There's no closure for us and no justice for Kirsty. He's been done for a driving offence and there's no recognition for what happened to her.

'Me and Kirsty were inseparable. It's like before July 24 we had a normal life but since then life hasn't been worth living.'

Under current legislation if a death has occurred as a result of careless driving, this can only have a bearing on the charge if the driver is under the influence of drink or drugs.

Mr Dyson's family - Gareth, sister Hayley, 19, and mum Jackie, 51, are backing Government proposals to introduce a new charge of causing death by careless driving which could carry a five-year prison sentence.

Mrs Dyson said: 'We became very close; we weren't just mother and daughter, we were the best of friends.

'We would welcome any law that favours the victim of the crash.'

Both Mr and Mrs Dyson have had counselling in the last year as they struggle to come to terms with their loss of Kirsty, whom they say was destined for bigger things.

Max Morrison, of Leads2Business, agreed and said staff were devastated by what had happened. He said: 'She was the personal assistant to my managing director of Leads2Business and she was lovely, hard working and popular in every way.

'Kirsty was such a bright, cheery person - a joy to be in the office with - and her death was just one of those terrible things that happen; a very sad situation.'