Just four years' jail for drink driver who killed a mum, 26

The family of a young mother killed by a drink driver spoke today of their outrage after he was given a four-year prison sentence.

Cheryl McGoldrick, 26, suffered fatal injuries when she was struck by Paul Clements, 28, who was driving at 53mph in a 30mph zone.

The insurance agent's blood-alcohol level was twice the legal drink-drive limit when he hit the mother of two in Beckenham High Street.

Despite facing a maximum sentence of 14 years, Clements was jailed for just four after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.

The victim's mother Maxine Mc-Goldrick said: "We're all devastated by this disgusting decision and I'm speaking to a legal adviser on whether we can appeal.

"He hit my little girl and could have killed the two friends she was with too while he was twice over the limit, yet he could be back on the road in a few years." Before sentencing Clements at Croydon crown court last week, Judge Warwick McKinnon said: "You literally mowed her down ... This was utter criminal culpability."

Mrs McGoldrick said: "The judge said he would make an example of him but he has completely let us down."

Cheryl's younger sister Danielle, 22, added: "I was hoping for at least double figures because we want to get justice for Cheryl. Is this sentence all her life was worth?"

Cheryl, who lived with partner Tom Payne and their sons Thomas, four, and Freddy, three, in Beckenham, was on a night out with friends in January when she was struck by the VW Golf being driven by Clements, also of Beckenham. She died two hours later at King's College Hospital in Camberwell.

Cathy Keeler of road safety charity Brake said: "When someone has committed an incredibly dangerous act - and being twice over the limit is incredibly careless - the public cannot understand why the criminal justice system doesn't take advantage of its full range of sentencing powers."