THE grieving father of a 12-year-old girl who died after being knocked down by a failed asylum seeker today said her "accidental" death should have been treated as manslaughter.

And he hit out at Blackburn's coroner who failed to back his campaign for tougher punishments for banned drivers who get back behind the wheel.

At an inquest into Amy Houston's death, father Paul said: "I appreciate he didn't intend to kill Amy, but that's what his actions caused. It should be manslaughter.

"We want justice so no-one else suffers the way we are. At the moment, the law treats Amy as if she was a dog which had been knocked down."

After the hearing Mr Houston said he felt snubbed after Michael Singleton failed to use special coroner powers to request a change in the law.

He spoke out after Mr Singleton recorded a verdict of accidental death in the case of Amy, knocked down last November on Newfield Drive, close to her mother Joanne Cocker's Ravenglass Close home on Blackburn's Fishmoor Estate.

During the inquest hearing, Amy's family learnt for the first time that she had remained conscious for a short time after the accident, which left her trapped under the Rover saloon driven by Aso Mohammed Ibrahim.

The Iraqi asylum seeker had already been banned from driving in the UK, and fled the scene immediately after he collided with Amy. Witnesses described to the hearing how Ibrahim's Rover was driving "fast" along Newfield Drive before colliding with Amy, who had run into the road between a row of parked cars.

They described seeing Amy fly into the air before landing and the car rolling on to her. Police investigations believe Ibrahim had been driving between 25mph and 40mph when he hit Amy.

Immediately after the accident, a teacher from Amy's former primary school, who witnessed the accident, spoke to Amy to try to keep her calm, while police also spoke to the Our Lady and St John's High School pupil before she lost consciousness.

Pathology reports presented to the inquest concluded that Amy died from asphyxia, probably brought on as she tried to shift around underneath the car after the accident. Witnesses - including Amy's mother - lifted the car off the youngster under the instructions of paramedics but she died in Blackburn Royal Infirmary several hours later.

Ibrahim later went to Blackburn Police Station to report the accident, and was charged with driving while disqualified, driving without insurance and failing to stop after an accident.

When asked if he had any comments to make at the inquest, Mr Houston, of Russia Street, Accrington, said: "I would urge you, Mr Singleton, to use your powers to request a change in the law from the Home Office. If you aren't supposed to have a gun and accidentally shoot someone, you are still responsible for their murder. If you drive a fork-lift truck when you've been told not to at work, and hit someone, you are liable.

"Yet this man is probably already out of jail. If you are disqualified from driving, then you know you shouldn't be driving. It should be treated the same."

But Mr Singleton said he did not think that simply being disqualified from driving justified a penalty on a par with manslaughter. He said: "I can support an argument that the taking of a car and hitting someone, or leaving a scene after the accident, should be treated as aggravated offences, and they would carry more severe sentences.

"There should be a real deterrent to stop people leaving the scene. But I shall not be using the powers I have to write to the Home Office requesting the change you seek."

He did, however, agree to write to Blackburn with Darwen Council and the police seeking enforcement action for the parking on Newfield Drive which he said "played a part" in the circumstances around Amy's death.

Outside the hearing, Mr Houston said: "I won't stop campaigning now, but I do feel snubbed that Mr Singleton hasn't decided to use his powers to help us.

"We are talking to MPs and will keep fighting until we get a change. I need to know some good has come out of losing my daughter.

"Hearing that she must have felt pain because she was still talking after the accident was a shock, but will make me more determined to get some good."

His campaign already has the backing of Blackburn MP Jack Straw and Hyndburn's Greg Pope, both of whom hope a current review of traffic laws will provide the opportunity to create a charge of 'causing death while driving disqualified'."

The RAC Foundation has also backed Mr Houston.