The father of Evey Staley, the ten year old Islander tragically killed after the car she was a passenger in was hit by a drunk driver, has expressed his anger after the man who killed his daughter appeals against his sentence.
Robert Blakely, 33, was jailed for ten years (reduced from 14 as he admitted guilt), but today (Wednesday) his plea for a reduction in sentence will be heard by the Court of Appeal.
Ahead of the appeal, in an interview with Meridian ITV Evey’s father, Neal Staley, told Blakely to, “Man up, you done the crime, you admitted it, do the sentence, simple as that.”
He went on to say,
“You made a sober, conscious decision to drink and drug drive that day and you cost my daughter her life.
“Our sentence will go on and on and on, yours is a short one in comparison.
“Suck it up.”
Update 14.01
Just after 1pm today, Evey’s grandmother, Annie Staley, posted the following message to Facebook,
“Just got the news the relief is indescribable…the Appeal has been thrown out and cannot be appealed again!! Such an emotional day…justice has prevailed in that the sentence stays as it is!”
Sign the petition
Neal, who has been the driving force behind a road safety campaign called Isle Drive Safely, posted a message on the Facebook Page earlier this week saying,
“I desperately hope that the appeals panel treats this with the utter contempt it deserves but you can only hope.”
He goes on to urge Islanders to register “their disapproval for capped sentencing for these types of crime by signing the petition from another horrific incident above”.
The petition is being hosted on the Government’s E-Petition site.
