THE mother of a dangerous driver who was jailed for just 26 months after he nearly killed three teenagers says he deserved a longer prison sentence.

Pauline Farnworth, aged 54, is backing The Bolton News Drive For Justice campaign and has signed our petition which calls on the Government to increase the maximum sentence for dangerous driving if people are injured.

Her son, Christopher Marr,aged 24, was jailed for mowing down a group of teenagers as they walked home from a party in Bromley Cross on August 22 He had been drinking and had his pregnant girlfriend, Bella, in the car.

Speaking for the first time since her son’s court case, Mrs Farnworth, of Tonge Moor, backed calls to raise the maximum sentence for dangerous driving.

She said: “It needs raising.

He should not have done it and he would have had to take whatever sentence he was given. It was not an accident. I warned him and warned him and warned him about drinking and driving.

“I said ‘you are going to finish up killing yourself or Bella or someone else that comes along’.”

Mrs Farnworth, who has three other sons and two grandchildren, said the news of the crash turned her world upside down.

“When he got sentenced, I was in court behind his victims. I felt terrible. I didn’t want to upset anybody but I had to see Christopher.

I can understand how they feel, because how would I feel if it had happened to one of my sons?”

Devon Foster, aged 14, suffered horrific injuries and almost died when the car Marr was driving ploughed into her. Also seriously injured were George Coleman, aged 16, and Jacob Fear, aged 15.

Mrs Farnworth said: “I just feel terrible because of what’s happened to the victims, to Devon. I wanted to go to see her mum but I didn’t want to make it worse for them.

“When I saw that picture of Devon in the paper, I just started praying for her every day that she would come through it.”

She also said she was concerned for Marr’s girlfriend because she was 10 weeks pregnant at the time of the crash.

Mrs Farnworth blames drugs and alcohol for what had happened to her son.

She said: “He changes when he’s had a drink. He turns into a monster. He has steroids for weightlifting and that makes him aggressive.”