Adrian John Murray, 25, was yesterday handed a seven-year jail term at a Queensland court after he pleaded guilty to drunkenly ploughing into Josiah Sisson on Christmas Day last year. He will be eligible for parole in just two years.

The boy’s parents are devastated. “Josiah was nine — it’s not even nine years,” father Karl, 40, told news.com.au after the sentencing. “It’s a slap in the face.

“How much was my son’s life worth? Nothing? Life seems to have little value, even that of a child. Unfortunately the justice system is bound by previous cases’ sentences. But the message is not getting through. What will it take, Australia?

“Everything’s still pretty raw right now. It’s been a hard day.”

It has been an even harder year for pastor Karl, wife Bonita and their older son Jordan, 17, who was with Josiah when he was killed.

The family had gone over to a friend’s house in Springwood, south of Brisbane, on Christmas evening and the two brothers went for a walk around the corner with the friend’s two daughters to look at the lights.

They were standing at an intersection when a drunken Murray — whose friends had begged him not to drive — lost control of his ute while turning a corner. He hit a parked car before careering into the youngest of the group and crashing into a house.

He had a blood alcohol reading of 0.162 per cent.

Judge Craig Chowdhury said the motorist was so intoxicated, he almost stood on the critically injured boy as he lay dying on the ground.

It was Jordan, then 16, who called his mother and father and told them the news every parent dreads hearing. “Josiah’s been hit by a car.”

Karl and Bonny raced to the scene, but knew instantly that it didn’t look good. Bonny, 35, went in the ambulance with Josiah and Karl followed in a paramedic’s vehicle. “It was all a nightmare from there,” said Karl.

Josiah died in hospital two days later, after being taken off life support.

Murray’s lawyer Simon Lewis said the defendant was “deeply and genuinely remorseful” and “can never atone for what he has done”.

In an astonishingly noble act, the boy’s father met with his son’s killer just after the accident and forgave him. The driver collapsed into Karl’s arms in front of a packed church.

“I’ve been imprisoned by bitterness and hatred before,” Karl said. “I’ve put to rest my anger and I forgive daily, I make that choice daily. Sometimes it’s hard to accept what happens. We can only do so much, but we can decide how we want to respond.”

The family have tried hard to support each other during an agonising year.

In their victim impact statements yesterday, Josiah’s parents spoke of how they had endured marriage problems since, and Karl had thought about suicide. They also decided to close their church, Potters House, in Redbank Plains.

Jordan rarely discusses what happened. “He doesn’t really talk about it much,” said Karl. “He’s just pushing it away, he doesn’t want to talk, it hurts too much.

“He’s doing what any teenager does, push it away when you don’t want to deal with it. You can only do so much, teenagers push back, he’s a young man.”

Bonny described Josiah as a “spirited and full-of-life little boy”, while Karl said he had realised that “a car in the hands of a drunk driver is like a loaded gun in the hands of a murderer”.

Now the court case is over, they are focusing on getting through the anniversary of Josiah’s death, at a time when so many families are celebrating together. The are pursuing a civil claim with Shine Lawyers for compensation and intend to start campaigning to increase sentences for drink-drivers, which are typically around the seven- or eight-year mark.

“There’s still that to come, Christmas Day, but at least it was very hard to decipher the difference between the effects of Christmas, how I feel about Christmas and the loss of my son — and the court case,” said Karl.

“Our biggest concern is the change that needs to take place.

“The laws need to change. The police have done all they can, the courts have done all the can, it’s Parliament that needs to change.

“We need to know which buttons to push. I don’t know my next move but that’s where I want to go with it.

“I just want to make it through Christmas. Get to the other side and start again.”

emma.reynolds@news.com.au | @emmareyn