Bereft mum vows to keep fighting for driver-killer law change after daughter’s death

By Harrison Galliven, Local Democracy Reporter

A Merton mum whose daughter died in a crash with a dangerous driver has said she is determined to get the law changed after getting widespread backing.

Since the tragedy, Debbie Clack, 53, has been campaigning so that people who cause a death while driving when drunk or on drugs have their licences suspended immediately.

Debbie’s daughter, Lillie, 22, was killed over Christmas 2021 by a dangerous driver she was with who was under the influence and who failed to stop for the police.

Charlie Hilton, 25, was chased by police before his Mercedes, containing Lillie, hit a tree, flipped over and burst into flames in the early hours of Christmas Day.

Hilton was eventually sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment, reduced to 10 because of a guilty plea, and given a 10-year driving ban in February 2023. He will spend a minimum of five years in jail. However, this offered little consolation to Debbie and her family.

Debbie spoke then of her family’s shock at finding out that her daughter’s killer was still able to drive following that fateful night, ahead of his eventual conviction.

She said: “We found out you could kill someone on our roads and continue to drive until your case was heard.”

Under the current law, families have to wait until the first court case is heard, which can take anything from 18 months to two years.

Judges have full discretion to decide whether perpetrators should have their licences stripped by way of an interim disqualification before the conviction.

In Debbie’s case, Hilton initially pleaded no comment in his interview, which lengthened the amount of time he was able to drive before his eventual disqualification.

Debbie said: “We thought this was crazy, and we couldn’t get our heads around it. They took away the rights I had of being a mummy, they took away the right of me bringing up my daughter and watching her grow, so why the hell should they be allowed to continue to drive after they’ve taken a life?

“This was a journey that took my daughter to her death, and a journey to hell for us. This boy reached speeds of 120mph, this boy lost a police car because he was going so fast.

“He killed Lillie in such a way that nobody deserves to be killed, he broke her neck, back, every bone in her body but two. This little girl was broken like a china doll.”

After discovering that her daughter’s killer was driving the streets of South London before his first hearing date, Debbie and her family vowed to force a change in the law so that other families would be protected from what she called “this insult”.

As part of their campaign to impose “Lillie’s Law”, Debbie and her family have called for two key changes to the law. They want people who cause death while driving to have their licence suspended immediately and also want people who cause a death by driving while under the influence to never be permitted to drive again.

Debbie started an e-petition in March 2022 to build support for the family’s campaign. The e-petition has since gathered nearly 38,000 signatures and is well on its way to the 50,000 target.

Despite wide-ranging support, there is frustration with the apparent lack of concern from national politicians and policy-makers.

Mitcham and Morden MP Siobhain McDonagh raised the petition in Parliament in March 2022 In her speech, Ms McDonagh told the house: “There is a clear and rectifiable gap in the law. My heart goes out to the Clack family for the pain that they have suffered these past three months.”

Debbie and her family were previously promised a meeting with the transport secretary, however, this meeting was cancelled due to a change in personnel.

Now, with a new Labour government, Debbie is hoping that another meeting will be forthcoming.

Lillie left school in sixth form to become a successful kitchen designer and was described by her friends and family as hard-working and “a beautiful person inside and out.”

Pictured top: Debbie Clack with her late daughter Lillie (Picture Debbie Clack)