Is the legal system doing right by Elisha?

Ibelieve the rehabilitation of criminals is best for all of us. And therefore I accept that “locking the door and throwing away the key’’ is not an option. But sometimes the sentences handed out by the courts baffle me.

The case of James Millard is one example.

Millard (22), of High Street, Fletton was high on drugs when he got behind the wheel of a Ford Focus.

Driving at twice the speed limit along Bourges Boulevard, he lost control of his vehicle and smashed into a family walking along the pavement.

Little seven-year-old Elisha Hills-Steedman was thrown in the air and badly injured. Her family feared she would die.

And Millard? He didn’t even stop at the scene.

In an instant the family’s life was turned upside down, never to be the same again... and not for the better. Mum Michelle Steedman , who was also badly hurt in the crash, says the family are suffering a life sentence.

Millard isn’t. He could have been jailed for five years, but he was given just 14 months. His defence even pressed for a suspended sentence!

Even if he keeps his nose clean – and as he had taken cocaine that day, that’s not a given – he will be back on the streets in seven months, maybe even earlier.

I have to cling to the hope that Millard will learn his lesson and when he comes out of jail he will be a decent, useful member of society.

But if he isn’t, and he does something like this again... we should throw away the key.