A FATHER says he is “disgusted” with the length of the prison sentence given to the driver who killed his 16-year-old son.

Josh Callaghan died after Koaldeap Singh Lit crashed into him as he walked along the pavement of London Road in Northfleet with his father at around 4pm on January 24 last year.

Lit, from Strood, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison at Maidstone Crown Court on Wednesday (July 21) after being found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving.

The 35-year-old claimed he had swerved to avoid a dog before mounting the pavement and hitting Josh, but Judge Jeremy Gold QC accused him of lying and said he had fallen asleep at the wheel.

After the sentencing, Josh’s father Tim said: “I’m absolutely disgusted by the length of the sentence, as it’s nowhere near long enough. If you kill someone, you should get at least eight years in prison.”

The 46-year-old electrician added: “Throughout all this Lit has not once shown remorse for what he did. He has not written to us or tried to say sorry in any way.

“But everyone else has been fantastic - the jury, the witnesses, the emergency services and the police - as they have helped make sure Lit was convicted.”

Josh lived in Canon Road, Bromley, with his father and his partner Jane Dent, 40, but was in Northfleet on the day he was killed because they had been doing repairs at a house she owns in Gordon Road.

Josh and Mr Callaghan were walking to the pub Ye Olde Leather Bottle in Dover Road to play pool when he was struck by Lit’s Vauxhall Vectra.

Mr Callaghan said: “The silly thing is that we’d thought of going to The Elephant’s Head in London Road instead, and if we’d have done that Josh would still be here.”

Passing sentence, Judge Gold dismissed construction worker Lit’s claims he had taken six breaks during his trip home to Strood from a job in Bath.

He said: “What you did was to carry on driving when you knew you were falling asleep, colliding with Josh and missing his father by inches.

“You realised what you had done and embarked on a course of deliberate lies. I can see very little remorse in the way you have conducted yourself.”

Josh was a talented musician and a popular pupil at Ravens Wood School in Oakley Road, Bromley, and Mr Callaghan says “he is missed by a lot of people”.

He leaves behind his mum Sarah Harvey and sister Megan, six, who live in south Wales, as well as his sister Alicia, 14, and brother Sid, three. His sister Beatrice was born four days before his funeral.