KILLER drivers could now be jailed for life for their crimes, a plan heralded as a ‘victory for the bereaved’ by the father of a teenager killed by a motorist on his mobile phone.

For more than three years, Paul and his wife Maureen Baker have campaigned tirelessly for tougher punishments for dangerous and careless drivers after their 14-year-old daughter was knocked down and killed by Robert Blackwell in Witney in June 2014.

Blackwell, who received a text message seconds before the crash, admitted death by dangerous driving and was jailed for four years, which Liberty’s family have always maintained was too short.

But those who kill from behind the wheel will soon face tougher justice after a Government announcement heralded a victory for the Oxford Mail's Drive for Justice campaign.

Mr Baker, a 49-year-old service engineer, said: “I think really it is a victory for the people who have been bereaved and families who have lost loved ones because the current law for dangerous drivers is extremely outdated.

“Nothing will ever bring back Liberty, we are serving our own life sentence.

“But for the people and families in the future who are victims these dangerous drivers it might help them, knowing they will be paying a tougher price.”

The Ministry of Justice confirmed this week drivers who cause death by speeding, racing or using a mobile phone could face sentences equivalent to manslaughter, with maximum penalties raised from 14 years to life.

In 2015, Mr Baker wrote to all the country’s MPs calling for harsher punishments and lent his voice to the Oxford Mail’s campaign.

This Sunday would have been Liberty's 18th birthday, and the family are coming together to celebrate her life.

Mr Baker added: “It is a milestone we are not looking forward to.

“We will have a bit of a remembrance but we don’t want it to be a sad day, we still have to be positive and remember Liberty for the wonderful person she was.

“Her little brother Finley is 14 now, the same age when Liberty was killed.

“I want to thank everyone, including the Oxford Mail, who have done their bit to get this through, it has had a positive outcome to a very negative and heart-breaking situation.”

Drivers who cause death by careless driving while under the influence of drink or drugs will also face life sentences and a new offence of causing serious injury by careless driving will be created.

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran said she was firmly behind the move and praised her colleague Greg Mulholland for introducing a bill in parliament last year.

Justice minister Dominic Raab said: “We've taken a long hard look at driving sentences, and we received 9,000 submissions to our consultation.

“Based on the seriousness of the worst cases, the anguish of the victims' families, and maximum penalties for other serious offences such as manslaughter, we intend to introduce life sentences of imprisonment for those who wreck lives by driving dangerously, drunk or high on drugs."

Over the past few years, the county has been rocked by a series of tragic deaths including the four family members killed on the A34 at the hands of lorry driver Tomasz Kroker, who was changing music on his phone and three-year-old Isla Wiggin, who was killed by Thomas Hunter in a seven-vehicle pile-up also on the A34.

In an online poll, 79 per cent of Oxford Mail readers agreed with the new sentences.

Oxford East MP Anneliese Dodds said it ‘beggar’s belief’ how people were able to serve very short sentences for ‘reckless’ driving.

She added: “These kinds of crimes really should be classified differently from ordinary motor accidents and so I’m pleased the government has listened to its consultation and will be increasing sentences.

“But that’s only part of the battle to make our streets safer.

“We need to make sure people are aware of the catastrophic damage they can cause when speeding and driving dangerously in other ways.

“We also have a specific issue in Britain with high-performance cars being hired by people who set out explicitly to race or to drive dangerously in other ways. This area should also be looked into, since hire companies need to fulfil their responsibilities too.”