'Is that all her life is worth?' Heartbroken parents of Scots teen hit out at 'pathetic' sentence handed to killer driver

Beautiful Robyn Fryar, 15, was left helpless and dying in the road after being mown down by hit-and-run driver Shaun Gatti in Paisley on July 7, 2019.

The family of Scots teen Robyn Fryar have blasted the “pathetic” sentence handed to her hit-and-run killer who treated her “worse than an animal”.

Shaun Gatti was jailed for just five years and three months after mowing down the 15-year-old in Paisley, Renfrewshire, on July 7, 2019 after a night out with his pals.

The 21-year-old, who had been driving at speed on the wrong side of Glenburn Road, hit young Robyn before dragging her on the bonnet of his Volkswagen Golf.

The callous thug got out the motor and looked at teenager as she lay helpless and dying in the road before fleeing the scene and later hiding his smashed up car.

He was sentenced via videolink at the High Court in Glasgow on Wednesday in front of Robyn’s heartbroken mum and dad, who have hit out at the short sentence.

Father Iain Fryar, 53, said: “It’s absolutely pathetic. I’m absolutely dumbfounded at the sentence and the justice system.

“Is that all they think our little girl is worth? He’s basically got away with murder and we think it’s an absolute disgrace.

“Something has to change. People get bigger sentences for assault.  Instead of him going out with a load of guns, he went out with this car and killed our daughter with no remorse.

“What kind of person throws a child off a car and leaves them lying on the ground dying?

“The justice system is pathetic to be honest with you and how they got to that sentence, we just don’t know. I don’t think he (Gatti) was even bothered.

“Robyn's mother can’t even go and visit her in the cemetery because she’s so upset and then we had to sit in a courtroom and listen to him get away with this, more or less.

“We are going to try an appeal against the sentence but we’ve been told that it very rarely works.

“At the first court appearance, he sat with his back to me, he wouldn’t look me in the face.”

The heartbroken father added: “Robyn’s mum Cheryl said that if she knocked down a cat or an animal, she would stop and help.

“So what did he treat our daughter like? Worse than an animal. It’s worse than a life sentence, it’s like being in hell to be honest. We’ll never get relief from the pain we feel.

The devastated parents went on the say that their 'precious' only child was born following IVF treatment.

Iain said: “Cheryl waited years to qualify for it. We were together for around a year and half when she got the letter telling her she could get it. She asked me and I said yes.

“And after the first time, we got our wee precious girl. It was a dream come true. I’ve never seen two happier people.

“You go through all that, you get her and she gets taken away from you in the most horrific way possible.”

Dad Iain initially found out that schoolgirl Robyn had been knocked down in the hit-and-run at around 2am after receiving a phone call from his niece, who lived near the scene.

He raced to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, but knew the moment he saw his daughter’s battered body that she would never survive her horror injuries.

He added: “I saw them bring her out of the ambulance and I knew my daughter wasn’t going to make it. I had to phone Cheryl to get her to come to the hospital.

“I never thought I’d ever have to make a call like that or get one like it. You always think it’s going to happen to somebody else, never you.

“We didn’t get to say goodbye because she was already gone. We got taken into the room just after it. I wouldn’t leave her, I wouldn’t let them take her to the mortuary.

“They told us she was alive and still breathing for three hours. And I just hope she didn’t feel all that pain, I really do. It doesn’t bear thinking about.”

Heartless Gatti had been out at Paisley’s Vienna nightclub and was seen drinking out of a Fish Bowl cocktail before getting in his car.

Officers believe he was driving at around 47mph in a 30mph zone when he struck young Robyn while driving on the wrong side of the road.

The popular schoolgirl had been out celebrating the end of her exams with her friends, who witnessed the horrific collision.

Gatti fled the scene and hid his smashed up car underneath tarpaulin while also removing the number plates. He was traced by cops 11 hours after the crash.

He was jailed for five years and three months after admitting causing death by dangerous driving.

He was also banned from driving for 11 years and seven months.

Iain added: “If he could only feel a fraction of the pain that we have. But he’s not got any. I hope every day is hell for him.

“All her little friends come up to the cemetery every week, crying their hearts out. They sit there in the rain, they sit there in the cold.

“But he doesn’t know how many people have actually been hurt. The kids that were there that night, the hell that they’re going through. They’re having nightmares.

“It’s like being a bubble and everything round about you isn’t real.”

Paying tribute to her daughter, mum Cheryl Madden, 51, added: “Robyn was absolute dynamite. We laughed every day, we fought every day.

“She was so outgoing and she was so loyal to her friends. She would do anything for them. “At the court today, there were about eight or nine of them there. The whole sentencing was ridiculous.

“It just makes my daughter seem insignificant and that her life was worth nothing.

“If I ran over a cat, I wouldn’t just drive away - I would get out and see what I could do. You just don’t do that to people.”

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Co-accused David Kinnon, 21, from Paisley, who was accused of causing Robyn's death by taking part in a race with Gatti that night walked free after his plea of not guilty was accepted by the Crown.

He walked free from court.