Long Sutton mother’s fight for answers after Probation Service failed to report disqualified driver Shane Kelk for breaking the law before fatal crash in Holbeach St John’s

A grieving mother says the probation service is not ‘fit for purpose’ after it failed to take action to stop a disqualified driver from breaking the law before killing her ‘brave and free spirited’ daughter.

Amanda Cooper is still waiting for answers on why probation officers never reported Shane Kelk to the police for driving while disqualified before a collision in Holbeach St Johns which killed her daughter Amy, 20.

Her life was cut tragically short after Kelk overtook another vehicle on the B1168 at Holbeach St Johns on a foggy November night in 2022. His BMW hit motorcycle rider Amy head on - but he left her by the side of the road and ran away.

Kelk is currently serving an eight year sentence after admitting five charges including causing death by dangerous driving and causing death by driving while disqualified. He had tried to appeal against this sentence which was lost — something which Amy’s family feels shows no remorse for his actions.

We have questioned the Ministry of Justice as to why Kelk - who has a string of previous convictions and was out on licence at the time of the collision - was not reported to the police for breaking the law - but we have also not received a satisfactory answer, echoing the family’s frustration over a lack of answers from the authorities.

Ms Cooper is now calling for change in attitudes to motoring crimes — along with an public acknowledgement from the justice system about its failures to stop Kelk.

The Long Sutton woman - who cannot bring herself to say Kelk’s name - has received a report from the probation service about Kelk which showed that he had broken six of the 11 terms of his licence.

She said: “I don’t feel the probation service is fit for purpose.

“It was flagged up as a possibility of being recalled to prison but no-one took responsibility to make that happen.

“The two things that make us so angry is the fact that they (the probation service) didn’t stop him driving and didn’t recall him to prison when he should have been. He should not have been free to kill Amy.

“They did not report him to the police. They should have taken steps but did nothing. We have never had a proper explanation for that.

“I did ask for a follow up meeting and we are waiting for that.”

Ms Cooper along with her children, Samantha Pointon and Ed Cooper, have been fighting for justice for Amy and were horrified to have seen the number of issues in the report.

At the time of the collision Kelk was still on licence following a jail sentence of six years and nine months imprisonment passed in 2017 for his involvement at an armed incident in Long Sutton.

The service was working with Kelk on issues such as staying away from drug dealers and not committing domestic abuse.

Ms Cooper said: “There are various quotes in the report which highlights the fact that they knew he was driving and didn’t do anything about it. They didn’t put any importance on that.”

She does not feel that the probation service had supervised Kelk properly and feels that staffing levels at the time were good.

Ms Cooper, who has been supported by RoadPeace, a charity for road crash victims, said: “He was breaking the law. There is a comment in the report about living in a rural area and how was he supposed to get to work. They have the power to dictate where a person should live when on probation. He has family in Peterborough - which was where he was found after the crash. Why did they not insist on him living in Peterborough where there is public transport?

“Their job should be to protect the public and that is an important point. But they didn’t do that, they failed in their duty of care.”

They have also written to the chief coroner to ask for the inquest to be reopened in light of information contained within in the probation report.

Amy’s family want the coroner to issue a prevention of further death order to compel the probation service to make changes. The coroner has refused.

Kelk was sentenced to eight years and three months - but the family fear that he will be released in another three years.

Amy suffered multiple injuries and was treated at Peterborough City Hospital but died the morning after the collision. Ms Cooper has described her death as ‘brutal’ and has thanked the other people who stopped to help along with the emergency services.

Ms Cooper feels that Amy has been robbed of her adult life and has paid tribute to Amy - a careful rider who developed a passion for bikes as a child.

She said: “Amy was very independent, unconventional and very brave. She was funny and kind and she lit up a room as she was full of life.

“She was an unconventional free spirit.

“The other frustrating thing is that I don’t know where she would have ended up .She had started to talk about university after all. We never knew what what to expect from Amy.

“She was really stubborn and would go her own way regardless of anyone else said.

“We are trying to get this acknowledgement out of the justice system, the probation service and the coroner. We need to do this Amy and out of loyalty for her memory. Something needs to change as it makes her life seem trivialised. We want something good to come out of this.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “This was a terrible crime and our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Amy Cooper. While serious further offences are rare, they have a devastating impact and we take each one extremely seriously.

“We have taken action to address these issues, including reviewing the guidance for probation staff on assessing the risk posed by serious driving offenders."