JUSTICE Secretary Ken Clarke has declined to review a jail sentence given to a teenager convicted of manslaughter.

Darlington MP Jenny Chapman brought up alcohol-related crime in the House of Commons today.

She asked Mr Clarke to look at the sentence of John Flannigan, 17, from Darlington, who was jailed for two-and-a-half years after he admitted the manslaughter of Scots Guardsman Andrew Gibson.

Mr Gibson was on a night out with friends in Darlington last December when he was punched, and died six days later.

The Northern Echo launched its Price of a Punch campaign after the case to demand tougher sentences for one-punch killers and reinforce the message that one punch is enough to kill.

The Crown Prosecution Service asked Attorney General Dominic Grieve to review the sentence.

However, as reported in today's Northern Echo, he said the length of the sentence was "not so far outside the range" to refer it to the Court of Appeal. However, he sympathised with Mr Gibson's parents for their loss.

Mrs Chapman has backed The Northern Echo's campaign. She has suggested that there should be a minimum pricing policy on alcohol and wanted to make Darlington's night-time economy safer.