Aurelijus Cielevicius has been let out of jail just three years into a 10 year sentence after killing Paul Carter, 41, his wife Lisa, 49, and her daughter Jade Mace, 25 speeding at 96mph
A woman whose family was wiped out by a drug-addled driver speeding at nearly 100mph says she has lost faith in the justice system after he was released from prison early.
Aurelijus Cielevicius, 43, was let out after three years in prison, despite being sentenced to 10 and a half years for killing Paul Carter, 41, his wife Lisa, 49, and her daughter Jade Mace, 25. Cielevicius was flown back to his native Lithuania last month under the controversial early prison release scheme.
He was already on police bail and subject to a curfew when he ploughed along the wrong side of the A47 in Norfolk in January 2023 in his BMW X5 having taken crystal meth, cannabis and M-Cat. Cielevicius careered into the family’s Vauxhall Mokka at 96mph – yet escaped with just two broken ribs.
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Summer Mace, 26, who lost her mum, sister and step dad in the crash, told the BBC: “Three years and one month is all he served for killing three people. My heart shattered – broken into a million pieces, because yet again my family have been failed. These people who make these decisions have decided my family’s lives were only worth that much.”
Summer’s family were driving home to Gedney, near Holbeach, when the crash happened at North Runcton, near King’s Lynn, Norfolk, on 15 January 2023. Her mum Lisa Carter, 49, stepfather Paul Carter, 41, and 25-year-old sister Jade Mace were pronounced dead at the scene.
Cielevicius, formerly of King’s Lynn, was speeding at 96mph while overtaking a vehicle at the time. He was jailed at Norwich Crown Court after admitting three counts of causing death by dangerous driving. Cielevicius, then 39, was also sentenced to a further four years on extended licence and disqualified from driving for eight years.
Summer said: “Jade, mum and Paul were my whole support network. We lived together with four dogs, lots of chickens and a cat. Jade growing up was my best friend. We were the sort of sisters you are a bit jealous of because we were so close. It’s just weird being here without them. They were the three people who meant the most to me.”
ERS enables foreign nationals removed from prison early for deportation. Offenders are not subject to further imprisonment after removal from the country, but are barred from ever returning and liable to serve the rest of their sentence if they do. The government introduced changes to the system last year allowing prisoners to be removed having served 30% of their sentence rather than the previous 50%.
Summer said she learned Cielevicius might be eligible for the scheme last October. Her MP, James Wild, raised the issue with Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister’s Questions on February 11. On February 20, Mr Wild received a letter from Lord Timpson, the prisons minister.
It said Cielevicius was eligible for release under ERS as a foreign national who had served 30% of his custodial sentence, Summer said. It did not confirm a decision had been made in his case, she added.
On February 23, the family were told by the authorities the triple killer had been deported that morning. “Yet again as victims we were the last to know,” Summer said. “The minister must have known on the Friday that he was going to be deported.”
A government spokesperson said it was an “abhorrent crime” and added: “All foreign national offenders who receive a prison sentence in the UK are referred for deportation at the earliest opportunity, and will be barred from ever returning to the UK.”
