A HAMPSHIRE heroin addict continued to commit a catalogue of motoring offences after causing the horrific crash that killed her ten-year-old daughter, it emerged today.

And yesterday it was revealed that a legal blunder means Jane Boyd, pictured above, was not banned from driving when she was sentenced for the crash that killed 10-year-old daughter Kelly.

Boyd, who was high on heroin at the time of the crash, was also spared a jail term in a move that sparked public outrage.

Today the Crown Prosecution Service said it had referred the case to the Attorney General, who may send it to the Court of Appeal if he feels the sentence was unduly lenient.

Boyd was high on heroin when her car careered across the busy A35 at Totton in October 1999 and ploughed into an oncoming lorry.

But at the time of sentencing Judge Patrick Hooton failed to impose the mandatory two-year disqualification the crime carries with it.

Representatives from the Crown Prosecution Service went to Winchester Crown Court yesterday to ask for the ban to be put in place.

But it became clear that the hearing was too late, coming just one day after the cut-off point for amendments to sentencing.

The original court blunder has angered Boyd's former neighbours at Blackfield, who de-scribed her as a "lunatic" driver. One said: "I think it's disgusting that a woman who killed her little girl while high on drugs wasn't disqualified from driving.''

"If she hadn't already been banned for other offences she could have got straight back behind the wheel."

At her trial Boyd claimed to be full of remorse over the death of her "dream child".

But the Daily Echo can reveal that she committed more motoring offences just four months after that the crash that claimed Kelly's life.

She was stopped in Bitterne, Southampton in February last year and subsequently reported for driving while disqualified, driving without insurance and obstructing police.

The Echo can also reveal that the Totton crash occurred just two days after Boyd had been reported for driving a dangerous car.

She was stopped at Hythe on October 25 1999 for driving without a licence, driving without insurance, driving without an MoT, driving a car in a dangerous condition and having a faulty exhaust.

The Hythe and Bitterne cases were heard at Southampton Magistrates' Court on June 6 this year.

Boyd, 39, of Clifford Street, Southampton, pleaded guilty. She was given a 12-month conditional discharge and banned from driving for two years.

Two weeks later Boyd appeared at Winchester Crown Court and received a suspended prison sentence over the crash that killed Kelly.

Boyd had denied causing death by careless driving while under the influence of drugs but was convicted and given an 18-month sentence, suspended for two years.

Judge Hooton's decision not to impose a jail term was widely condemned by road safety groups and other protesters.

But observers say the court was not told that Boyd had recently been sentenced for committing other offences both before and after Kelly's death.

The latest revelations about Boyd's driving record have fuelled the anger felt by her former neighbours at Blackfield.

One said: "Boyd used to drive like a lunatic - and the car she crashed at Totton wasn't even roadworthy.

"The suspension had gone on the left hand side at the back and the exhaust was blowing."

Another neighbour said: "All the motoring offences committed by Boyd in 1999 and 2000 should have been dealt with in the same court. It might have resulted in a less lenient sentence."

But the Crown Prosecution Service said there was no choice but to use two courts.

A spokesman said: "The crown court didn't have the power to deal with comparatively minor motoring matters unrelated to the main allegation.

"The judge may not have known about the offences committed in Hythe and Southampton.

"But they were far less serious than the main offence and it's possible they would not have influenced the judge when he passed sentence."

The Hampshire-based Automobile Association described Kelly's death as an "absolute tragedy", but said it did not discuss individual cases.

AA spokeswoman Rebecca Rees said: "Generally speaking there will always be a small minority of drivers who continue re-offend."

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents declined to comment.