FAMILY and friends of a couple killed in a crash have told how are appealing the "lenient" sentence handed to the speeding driver who killed them while drunk and on drugs.

The loved ones of Maria Smith and Richard Lewis-Clement are lodging an appeal against the six year sentence given to Jodan Hunt, saying it is too lenient and want the Government to introduce new laws.

Siobhan Bowman, the cousin of Ms Smith, has also launched a petition for stronger penalties for driving offences including a lifetime ban.

She said: “As a family we are devastated at the sentence so we have decided to appeal.

"We strongly believe that Hunt should have been jailed for a longer time. We do not believe he should be able to get his driving licence back ever again.

"It is a terrible waste of two lives and what happened was just so avoidable. It is something we will never get over.

"Maria was a much loved member of our family and a very popular person.

"She will be remembered very fondly so many people."

Ms Smith 48, and Mr Lewis-Clement, 46, from Eastbourne, died when Hunt ploughed into them after drinking and taking cocaine at a wedding in Eastbourne.

The 24-year-old builder admitted causing death by dangerous driving and was jailed for six years.

The petition calls for lifetime driving bans for people convicted of causing death by dangerous driving.

It also calls for new sentencing guidelines to ensure that judges have the power to impose the maximum sentence for causing death by dangerous driving where they see fit, and amend sentence limits to match those of manslaughter.

The campaigners are also calling for stronger penalties for other driving offences such as careless driving, dangerous driving, significant speeding, drink driving, and driving under the influence of drugs.

Ms Bowman, also from Eastbourne, said her cousin's death was "sudden, brutal and devastating".

She said: "The driver was speeding at one and a half times the speed limit and was 16 times over the legal limit for drugs.

"His car smashed into theirs at such a speed that their car was almost crushed into half its size.

"He ran away from the scene of the crash, unharmed.

"With good behaviour he is likely to be a free man in three or four years.

"He also received an eight-year driving ban. The maximum sentence is 14 years but the sentencing guidelines are so prescriptive that between 2004 and 2012 not one single person received the maximum sentence.

"This is not good enough. Not because we want the driver to suffer. Not because we want revenge. We simply want an end to drivers being given free reign to drive like maniacs on our roads without consequences.

Friends and family now plan to lobby Secretary of State for Justice, Elizabeth Truss.

The petition can be found at change.org.

BUILDER WAS ‘AN INCREDIBLE’ 16 TIMES THE LEGAL LIMIT

JODAN Hunt had been drinking and taking cocaine at a wedding at the Cavendish Hotel in Eastbourne on August 12 when he decided to jump into his Black Seat Leon.

He drove at twice the speed limit, careering through pedestrian crossings and swerving on to the wrong side of the road before smashing into the VW Polo, killing its driver Richard Lewis-Clements and his long term partner Maria Smith in King Edward’s Parade, Eastbourne, at about 9.30pm.

Hunt, of Hobart Way, Eastbourne, then abandoned his car and fled.

The 24-year-old builder admitted causing death by dangerous driving and was jailed for six years.

Sergeant Dan Pitcher, of East Sussex Roads Policing Team, said: “Hunt was recorded as having 46mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath in his system – the legal limit being 35mg. But most shockingly, he also tested positive for having 800mcg of benzoylecgonine – the major metabolite of cocaine – per litre of blood in his system. The legal limit is 50mcg, meaning he was an incredible 16 times the legal limit.

“Hunt’s conviction serves as a stark reminder that we will not tolerate drink or drug-driving at any time of the year, and that anyone caught breaking the law will be dealt with robustly.”