The family of Gwen Valentine is demanding an investigation into prisoner rehabilitation.

Thirty year old Donovan Kitching from St John's has been jailed for 10 years after causing her death. He was driving the car that hit and killed Ms Valentine as she walked along the Tholt-y-Will Road. Kitchen had been on parole for an earlier offence, having been released from jail three weeks before the incident in April.

In a statement, Gwen's family thanked Kitching for pleading guilty and said his apology had been accepted, stating: 'This is an appalling tragedy for Gwen and her family and friends, as well as for Mr. Kitching and his family. In the six months since she was killed, Gwen was due to have re-married, celebrated her first grandchild's first birthday and first steps and seen her daughter graduate to a Cambridge PhD.

'Gwen will always be sorely missed and the ripple effects of her death will impact us all for the rest of our lives. We wish to thank Mr. Kitching for pleading guilty to all charges, thus avoiding a painful trial. When pleading, he mouthed an apology to the family, and he apologised again today via his Advocate, which we accept.'

Paramedics who attended the scene and police who carried out the investigation have been praised by the family.

But while Kitching has been found criminally responsible for Gwen's death, the family says the wider question of whether her death was avoidable has not been addressed, leaving fundamental questions to be answered.

The statement continues: 'Today the Deemster said that the “system had failed both the public and Mr Kitching”. In our view that systemic failure includes his release “early on parole”, as we cannot understand how he was considered a low enough risk to the public to be released “early”. Why was he released early?

'The Deemster also said that the rehabilitation of Kitching during his last sentence had “signally failed”.'

The family points out that a report by HM Inspector of Prisons in 2011 said 'very little' was being done to address offending behaviour and that prison weaknesses were compounded by the lack of a strategy to reduce reoffending, warning '...the costs and risks to future victims of not doing so are likely to be considerable'.

The family states: 'That prediction has surely now come true. We understand that despite that report 3 years ago, the Island still does not track recidivism rates of adult criminals. We want to understand why the rehabilitation system is in the state it is in, and what can be done about it.

'Today we heard that the social report in to Mr Kitching provided for sentencing had rated him as a “medium risk for re-offending”. The Deemster disagreed with that rating in strong terms, and we entirely agree with the Deemster. We cannot understand such a rating given the circumstances. Was the risk rating used at the time of his early release similarly questionable?

'What probation monitoring was in place? Was it appropriate and was it enforced?

'We believe that addressing these questions may reveal lessons to be learned which could help avoid similar tragedies occurring in the future. We therefore look to the Coroner to investigate and answer these questions, and most importantly to make recommendations.'