The sister of Sophie Brimble is calling for a change in the law after the driver of the car in which she died, her boyfriend Jay Bayliss, avoided prison and was given an absolute discharge.

Aimee Coombes, Sophie’s sister, says her family have gone through “almost nine years of pain” only to be failed by the court system at the end of it.

In July 2017, Sophie Brimble, 20, died at the scene after Mr Bayliss crashed into a lamp post in Brynmawr, Blaenau Gwent, while driving at almost three times the speed limit.

Bayliss was charged with causing death by dangerous driving but, at the start of his trial in March 2026, the judge ruled, based on medical evidence, that he remained unfit for the criminal process to go ahead. It is this law, from 1836, that Aimee hopes to change.

The prosecution instead held a trial of facts, where a court determines whether or not a person is unfit to stand trial. If they do, criminal proceedings cannot proceed. After surveying evidence, a jury at Newport Crown Court found Bayliss responsible for causing Sophie's death by dangerous driving, but did not include a jail term nor a driving ban. Mr Bayliss was declared unfit for criminal proceedings, leaving courts powerless to take his licence.

He was eventually given an absolute discharge at Newport Crown Court, and allowed back behind the wheel.

Now, Aimee has started a petition to demand justice for Sophie. “We carry a life sentence of grief every single day,” Aimee says. “As a family we were left completely heartbroken. It felt like Sophie’s life did not matter in the eyes of the justice system. But Sophie mattered. She still matters every single day to all of us who love and miss her.

“No family should feel that the life of their loved one has been reduced to nothing.”

The petition can be accessed here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/766919?utm_id=97758_v0_s00_e224_tv2_tp1_a1dennhavtwxue#main-content