A WOMAN whose mother was killed by a drunk driver has backed our campaign for tougher sentences.

Katie Major said her family were left stunned after the man who killed their mother Claire Caldwell was jailed for five years and banned from driving for the same amount of time.

She said: "I don't think it's enough justice for someone who took my mum's life.

"I think the rule should be 'you take a life –you get life'.

"Only that will make people really think about drink driving and make an example of drivers that do it."

The 26-year-old has joined the Oxford Mail's Drive for Justice for killer drivers to face the same sentence and any other killer – possible life imprisonment.

And there is just a week left to tell the Ministry of Justice what you think.

Mrs Caldwell, 43, was being driven in her own car by 28-year-old David Farnell when he smashed it into a tree on a country lane in Sutton Courtenay in July 2015.

The woman, who lived in Fyfield Wick, near Southmoor, was declared dead at the scene, while Farnell, of Stone Court, Banbury, was cut out of the wreckage and saved.

He admitted causing death by careless driving while drunk and causing death while driving without insurance and was sentenced in March 2016.

Miss Major, who now lives in Maidenhead with her partner James Mills, said: "He killed someone: he took the life of someone who was held dear by their family.

"He also got a driving ban for five years which means he'll be able to go back on the road: David Farnell should never be allowed to go back on the road."

The family are originally from Wantage, and Miss Major and her four brothers and sisters all went to King Alfred's school in the town.

They moved to the caravan site in Fyfield Wick in 2012 – Mrs Caldwell, her husband Thomas and their five children.

Mrs Caldwell then got to know fairground worker David Farnell and the court was told she was like a 'mother figure to him.

On the day she died, Farnell told Oxford Crown Court court they went out to lunch then he drove her home in her Mitsubishi L200.

Blood tests later revealed he had 136mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood: more than 50 per cent above the legal limit of 80mg.

Miss Major said: "We're never going to get our mum back but tougher sentences would reduce the risk of other families like mine going through the heartache we are going through."

She was speaking out a month after the Oxford Mail launched its Drive for Justice campaign calling for tougher sentences for killer drivers.

The Ministry of Justice is running a consultation on whether sentencing for death by dangerous driving or when under the influence of drink and drugs should be brought in line with manslaughter, increasing the maximum sentence from 14 years to life.

Five of Oxfordshire's six MPs (excluded Henley MP John Howell) have backed our campaign, as have three local families who lost loved ones in avoidable accidents.

Malcolm Ruecroft, whose brother Graham was mown down by drunk Maria Sutton as he cycled home in Cholsey, said it was 'baffling' that a crime which was essentially manslaughter was not treated as such.

Sutton, who admitted causing death by careless driving while drunk, was jailed for four years and three months.

Mr Ruecroft urged people to respond to the MoJ consultation with their views.

He said: "It's not fair: the sentence has to fit the crime.

"If Maria Sutton had stopped her car, got out and hit my brother with a baseball bat and killed him, she would have been convicted of manslaughter, but instead she got four years."

Paul and Maureen Baker, from Witney, lost their 14-year-old daughter Liberty in 2014.

Robert Blackwell, who was 19 at the time, admitted causing death by dangerous driving and was jailed for four years.

Nicci Saunders lost her firefighter partner Joe Wilkins in 2012, and Paul Brown was later sentenced to 240 hours' unpaid work and banned from driving for 12 months after admitting causing death by careless driving.

Ms Saunders said dangerous and drunk drivers should face the same life sentences as victims' families.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "We are determined to make sure those who kill whilst driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs face the full force of the law.

"That is why we are consulting on plans that will see the maximum sentence in this area increase from 14 years to life."

New, tougher rules could also apply to drivers who cause death while using a mobile phone.

New figures released yesterday by the National Police Chiefs Council reveal that a nationwide operation in November caught 8,000 mobile phone offences behind the wheel in just one week.

The MOJ consultation runs until February 1. Respond online at consult.justice.gov.uk or call 07580 701239.