TWO York women expressed outrage today after the danger driver who caused an horrific crash in the city had his jail sentence cut.

Kerry Scott, whose fianc Steve Dowson, of Bootham Square, was killed in the smash in Boroughbridge Road, Acomb, and Sara Cooke, of Clifton, whose former partner Glen Carter was left severely brain damaged, reacted with disgust after Appeal Court judges reduced Daniel David Baker's sentence from seven to five-and-a-half years.

Baker, formerly from Acomb, who has never passed his test, lost control of the car and smashed into a tree in July 2003. He was sentenced at York Crown Court earlier this year, after admitting causing death by dangerous driving.

Passengers James Martin, of North Street, then 21, was left a quadriplegic, and Baker's 17-year-old sister, Portia Jewitt, suffered severe facial injuries.

Kerry said she felt as though Baker had taken three lives.

She said: "I wasn't happy with the original sentence, but you have to settle with that. At the end of the day that's what sentence has been given, and we've had to come to terms with it - but I can't believe he had the audacity to appeal.

"He would only have served three years anyway - one for each of the lives he took."

Sara, Glen's ex-partner and mother of his five-year-old son, Toby, said she was disgusted with the court's decision. She said Glen, who is in a special unit in Northampton, was unable to do anything for himself, and had not seen Toby since the crash.

"He's extremely poorly, he can't talk and he's still only got the use of his left arm," she said.

"Toby still misses his dad, he still asks when his daddy's coming home. I don't think Glen's going to get much better at all. I don't know how to put it in words."

Mr Justice Stanley Burnton concluded that seven years was "manifestly excessive".

He said there was a range of aggravating features in the case, including the fact that Baker was driving at nearly twice the speed limit in a 30mph zone amid damp conditions.

He also referred to a probation officer's report in which Baker was said to have displayed "negligible remorse" for his actions.

But the judge said seven years was more appropriate to a driving case in which alcohol had been consumed or where "racing" was involved, and neither factor was present in Baker's case.

He said the accident was "tragic in the extreme - and devastating to those involved".

Updated: 10:34 Friday, November 05, 2004