The drink and drug driver who killed two Newport children on the M4 will not have his sentence reviewed, it has been confirmed.

Earlier this year, Martin Newman was jailed for nine years, having caused the deaths of Gracie Ann and Jayden Lee Lucas on M4 at Newport.

He was found to have been drinking red wine at the wheel, and also had cocaine in his system.

In the aftermath of the sentencing, the family of the two youngsters called for Newman’s sentence to be reviewed by the court of appeal.

But this week, their request to review his prison term under the Unduly Lenient Sentences scheme has been refused.

News of this setback has been confirmed by the Attorney General’s office.

They said: “After careful consideration the solicitor general has concluded that this case cannot properly be referred to the Court of Appeal.

"A referral under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme to the Court of Appeal can only be made if a sentence is not just lenient but unduly so, such that the sentencing judge made a gross error or imposed a sentence outside the range of sentences reasonably available in the circumstances of the offence.

"The threshold is a high one, and the test was not met in this case."

What happened on the M4 in February?

Jayden-Lee Lucas and Gracie-Ann Wheaton had been travelling home with their parents from a birthday party on the afternoon of February 5 when the family stopped on the hard shoulder because Gracie-Ann felt unwell.

Then, "suddenly and without warning", Martin Newman's white Ford Transit collided with their car, causing the children "catastrophic" injuries.

They were rushed to hospital, but Gracie-Ann, age four, died the next day and Jayden-Lee, aged three, died the following Friday.

Martin Newman, from Croeserw in the Neath Port Talbot area, pleaded to causing the deaths by dangerous driving of the two children, along with charges of drink and drug driving.

He also admitted a charge of seriously injuring the children’s mother in the crash, which happened between near Junction 28 of the M4.

The court heard blood samples showed the van driver had exceeded the legal limit for alcohol and also had traces of cocaine in his system.