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What exactly is a lenient sentence?

Many of us make irreversible mistakes, it can be forgiven even if causing death of another person, IF this sort of accident happens when someone legally fit to drive with all the certificates etc to allow them to be on the road.

However, a banned or drunken driver should be given no excuse, they have deliberately broken the law and should feel the full force of legal retribution, similarly someone found driving without insurance should be prosecuted to an extent that exceeds the cost of the insurance to a degree that prevents them from re-committing such an offence and sets them up as an example to others that may be tempted to do similar.
If the law doesn't make them suffer more than the crime is worth why do we have law?