Families of two Ryanair pilots killed by a dangerous driver have condemned the government as "appalling" after being left fearing for months that his prison sentence could be cut early to ease overcrowding. Relatives of Captain Matthew Greenhalgh and First Officer Jamie Fernandes say the policy was only reversed following a national outcry, and that they learned of the change through media reports rather than being told directly by officials.

Anthony Burns, 63, was jailed for 10 years after pleading guilty to causing the deaths of the two pilots and seriously injuring a taxi driver when his 44-tonne lorry ploughed into their stationary taxi at 50mph on the M62. Families were sent letters in June warning his sentence could be "recalculated" under early-release measures, only five months after sentencing, before the Prime Minister reversed course to exclude manslaughter and death-by-dangerous-driving offenders following outrage over the case of PC Andrew Harper's killers. Both Hannah Greenhalgh, Matthew's widow, and Amanda Lindsay, Jamie's mother, said the ordeal reopened deep trauma and accused ministers of "lazy governance" for only finding alternatives after public pressure, despite claiming beforehand that no other options existed.