THE father of a teenager killed in a tragic fatal crash has asked ‘where’s the justice?’ after the driver responsible was jailed for four and a half years.

James Stephen Marshall Griffiths, 22, was convicted of causing the death of 17-year-old Tash Samways by dangerous driving following an eight-day trial at Dorchester Crown Court.

The popular teenager from Bridport was killed in a crash on the B3157 Weymouth to Bridport coast road near the turning to Langton Herring on January 20 last year.

Her father Colin Sweet said he was angry at the length of sentence imposed for the offence after Griffiths ‘took away my angel’.

It took the jury of eight men and four women just under four and a half hours to reach the majority verdict.

The defendant stood impassive in the dock as the verdict was read out and shook his head as he sat down.

Griffiths, of Jessopp Avenue, Bridport, had been seen drinking three pints of lager and a shot in Bridport on the night of the crash and drove Miss Samways and two friends to Weymouth.

However, he was not allowed into Dusk nightclub as he did not have any identification and was heard to tell door staff at the establishment ‘time me, I’ll see how quick I can be’ as they got back into the car to drive back to Bridport and collect his passport.

It was on that journey that the crash occurred.

Following the conviction David Lyons, representing Griffiths, said his client had himself suffered physically as a result of the crash – which left him with a broken neck – as well as emotionally, and was now being treated for depression.

He added: “He specifically instructs me to express to the family of the deceased his profound regret and remorse.”

As he sentenced Griffiths, Judge Roger Jarvis told the defendant: “It is plain that you were considerably in excess of a safe speed and the jury have found that you were driving dangerously.

“It is important that drivers, particularly young male drivers, really understand their responsibility when they are at the wheel of a car.

“The consequences here are both tragic and appalling and there is a price to pay and you have to pay it.”

Griffiths was also banned from driving for five years.

Following the sentencing Miss Samways’ father Colin Sweet slammed the prison term imposed by the judge.

He compared it to the seven-year term received this week at the same court by oil tanker driver Hugh Billington, who drove into a house in Wool.

Mr Sweet said: “I’m feeling angry at the length of the sentence he got.

“The lorry driver got seven years without killing anybody.

“Jamie Griffiths has gone out at high speed and killed somebody and he gets a lesser sentence.

“So where’s the justice in the law for killing somebody?”

He added: “He took away my angel.”

Mr Sweet and his wife Lil also said they wanted to thank Dorset Police and everybody involved in the case for their efforts and their family and friends, as well as Tash’s friends, for the support they had received.

Family's devastation

BEFORE Griffiths was sentenced the court heard of the devastating effect the death of Miss Samways, pictured above, had upon her family.

In victim impact statements read out by prosecutor Charles Gabb she was described as a ‘special young lady’ who ‘touched the hearts of everyone who knew her’.

In the first statement Miss Samways’ father Mr Sweet said his family’s ‘world fell apart’ the night his beloved daughter died.

He said: “Our lives changed forever, we were no longer a happy family, it ripped us all apart.”

Mr Sweet added: “Life has no meaning any more. I’m still struggling now.”

Miss Samways’ stepmother Lil Sweet said: “She was a very special young lady and we all loved her very much.

“She touched the hearts of everyone who knew her, that’s how special she was.

“She wasn’t a stepdaughter to me, she was a daughter. Tash has left a gaping hole in our hearts.”

Her brother Ashley added: “I had not only lost a sister, I had lost my best friend.”