THE PARENTS of a Bewdley teenager who died in a road accident say they feel "totally let down" by the justice system after a charge of causing death by dangerous driving was not pursued against the driver.

Sixteen-year-old Jamie Holden was killed last year when he was walking along Habberley Road in Bewdley after an end-of-school "prom" at the Ramada Hotel.

The driver was handed a fine and road ban when he appeared at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday and Jamie's dissatisfied parents, Sharon Carter and Darren Holden, are now calling for the law to be reviewed.

Miss Carter said: "The saddest thing is it makes Jamie's life feel so worthless. We know we are not the first people to go through this and it is worse to think we will not be the last."

James Gillman, of Claerwen Avenue, Stourport, was fined £2,000 and disqualified from driving for two years after pleading guilty to careless driving.

The 24-year-old factory worker originally faced the more serious charge of causing death by dangerous driving which carries a prison sentence, but the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to pursue it and Judge Richard Griffith-Jones ordered a not guilty verdict.

The judge told Gillman: "You have pleaded guilty to a charge that does not give rise to a custodial sentence.

"That is not a reflection of this dreadful business. There is no sentence that could totally wipe away this tragedy in the minds of the people who were close to Jamie. Nothing that Jamie did could be regarded as foolish or in any way contributory to what happened," he added.

Miss Carter, of Lyttleton Road, Bewdley, said the punishment had left her "feeling as raw as ever" and is planning to campaign for changes to the law in memory of her son.

She explained: "The whole thing just beggars belief and it has left me numb. I just cannot understand how 15 months of investigation could be slipped into a hearing that lasted a couple of hours."

She added: "I know that the judge did as much as he could in the circumstances. He did not have the power to do anything else because of the way the legal system is."

Mr Holden, who lives in Manchester, added: "I do not blame the judge because his hands were tied. He did mention in court about ordering him to retake his driving test but he did not even have the power to do that."

Miss Carter is now planning to join the charity RoadPeace, which campaigns for the rights of those affected by road accidents, to push for "stiffer sentences" in these types of cases.

The court heard that Gillman, who had only passed his driving test four months before the accident on July 1 last year, "panicked" and failed to apply the car's brakes after swerving to avoid a group of youngsters before hitting Jamie, a former Bewdley High School pupil.