A DRUNK driver who ran down and killed a grandmother outside an Epping pub has had her prison sentence increased.

Patricia Lawlor, of Fiddler's Hamlet in Epping, was ordered to serve two years in jail last month after she admitted crashing into 71-year-old Patricia Eustace outside the Merry Fiddlers Pub in Coopersale in November last year.

But yesterday (Thursday) the Lord Chief Justice at the High Court agreed to increase the sentence to three years, following an appeal by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Mrs Eustace's family have welcomed the verdict. They previously criticised Lawlor's sentence for being too lenient.

Mrs Eustace, of Maple Springs in Waltham Abbey, had gone to the pub for a meal with her family, and had stepped outside for a cigarette when Lawlor drove into her before smashing into the building.

Lawlor's grandson, who was also in the car at the time, and was thrown from the vehicle on impact, but walked away unharmed.

Mrs Eustace's stepson, Raymond Eustace, said: "We are pleased. Obviously no sentence, no matter how small or long would compensate for our loss.

"We did feel that the initial sentence was too low and the CPS obviously felt the same.

"People do criticise the CPS but in this case it is nice that they have done this."

A spokeswoman for the Crown Prosecution Service said: "When a victim's family come to us and say they think that a sentence was not quite right we do have the power to refer it to the attorney general.

"In this case however we were pro-active and we referred it directly following a decision by our reviewing lawyer.

"We don't do this for every case but in some circumstances we do if in our opinion it is in the interests of justice."

Lawlor pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and causing death by careless driving while over the legal alcohol limit at a hearing in September.

She has also been disqualified from driving for ten years.