A LORRY driver from Galashiels who killed three people in a crash on the A1(M) in County Durham last July will not have his sentence referred to the Court of Appeal to determine whether it was too lenient.

In January 2022, Durham Crown Court heard Ion Onut (41) had been browsing dating sites on his phone for 40 minutes before the crash which killed David Daglish, 57, and Elaine Sullivan, 59, of Seaham, and Paul Mullen, 51, from Washington.

Onut admitted causing death by dangerous driving and was jailed for eight years and 10 months.

The length of the sentence sparked outrage and the case was referred to the Attorney General's office.

The Law Officers had 28 days from the date of sentencing to make a decision on whether or not to refer the sentence to the Court of Appeal as unduly lenient.

However today the Attorney General's office said Onut's sentence did not meet the criteria for reconsideration under the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme and that the judge would need to have made "a gross error" or imposed a sentence "outside the range of sentences reasonably available" in the circumstances.

It added that a sentence could only be referred to the Court of Appeal if it was "not just lenient but unduly so".