Charlene Kraatskow: Mother of teen killed in hit-and-runupset and angry over sentencing of driver

The mother of a 15-year-old boy killed in a drunken hit and run says she started a petition calling for a longer sentence for the teenager so other families don't go through the same pain.Air force cadet Nathan Kraatskow, 15, died in May when a learner driver hit him at an intersection in Albany in north Auckland.Rouxle Le Roux, 19, had drunk wine and smoked cannabis earlier in the day before her Mercedes crashed into Kraatskow as he crossed the intersection on a small bike.Charlene Kraatskow told The Weekend Collective she is upset and angry over the way the justice system has failed her family, after Le Roux was given a sentence which was reduced because of her rough childhood.“Why should we take the consequences of her rough upbringing? I don’t see why she should be discounted because she had a rough upbringing, that’s not our fault."Kraatskow says she has seen social media posts from Le Roux which she feels make a mockery of the judge believing Le Roux has any remorse for what she has done."All of her Instagram posts, she posts nearly every day. Her captions on social media, especially the one on Halloween in the orange jumpsuit really upset us. Everything she has said doesn’t make sense."With thousands of people showing support by signing a petition against the light sentence, Kraatskow believes something should be done to make sure this doesn't happen again."She took a son, brother a grandson away from us, and it is like a big joke from her. All she has got is a slap on the wrist.This is the worst thing we have ever had to go through. I hope she learns from her mistakes, but I don’t think she will. She has been boasting to some of her friends how she got away with what happened."LISTEN ABOVE AS CHARLENE KRAATSKOW SPEAKS TO THE WEEKEND COLLECTIVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.