Porsche driver's sentence is cut

A SCHOOLBOY who killed two elderly sisters while driving a Porsche given to him by his "indulgent father" had his four-year sentence cut by a year at the Court of Appeal yesterday.

Satvinder Nijjer was convicted on two counts of causing death by dangerous driving at Stafford Crown Court last October. He was sentenced to four years in a young offenders' institution and disqualified from driving for five years.

The Recorder of Leeds, Judge Brian Walsh, sitting in London yesterday, said a three-year sentence reflected the "mitigating circumstances" of Nijjer's age, good character and the remorse he felt.

Nijjer, now 20, of Wednesfield, West Midlands, had been given the car for his 18th birthday. On 12 February, 1997, he left St Edmunds RC school with two friends during a lunch break.

His counsel, William Clegg QC, said Nijjer never wished to drive again after the accident when he lost control on a bend and struck Lavinia Carrington, 78, and her sister Winifred, 76, killing them instantly.

Judge Walsh said: "The car had been bought for him a short while before as a present for his 18th birthday. It was bought for him by an indulgent father. In hindsight, or perhaps even in foresight, it could have been seen, as Mr Clegg described it, as an `insane' gift."

Judge Walsh added: "It is quite clear that if anyone could be more remorseful than this young man, it would be difficult to find that young man."