Driver who killed pregnant woman in motorway crash jailedon July 19, 2023 at 2:44 pm

A driver who filmed himself speeding at 123mph before hitting and killing a pregnant mother-of-two has been jailed for 12 years.

Adil Iqbal admitted causing the death of Frankie Jules-Hough, 38, by dangerous driving on the M66 in Bury, Greater Manchester, on 13 May.

The 22-year-old also admitted causing serious injury to her son, aged nine, and nephew, aged four.

The family’s solicitor described the sentence as “insulting”.

Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court heard how Iqbal, from Accrington, Lancashire, was driving his father’s BMW with one hand and holding his phone with the other to film himself, possibly to upload to Facebook, as he tailgated and undertook other vehicles and swerved across lanes.

Ms Jules-Hough had pulled over on the hard shoulder with a tyre puncture, with her two sons and nephew in the car.

She was making a call to say she would be late when she let out a “blood-curdling scream”, the court heard.

The BMW 140i undertook a motorbike then swerved, over-compensated and hit a crash barrier before spinning around and ploughing into Ms Jules-Hough’s Skoda Fabia at an estimated 92mph.

She was 17 weeks pregnant with her first daughter, Neeve, and suffered unsurvivable brain injuries.

They both died two days later in hospital surrounded by family, with Ms Jules-Hough having never regained consciousness.

Her son and nephew were left in a coma suffering serious brain injuries with their long-term outcomes remaining uncertain, the court heard.

Both spent weeks in intensive care in hospital. Her youngest son, who was also in the car, was relatively unscathed.

Dashcam footage and film from Iqbal’s phone was shown to the court, watched by relatives of Ms Jules-Hough, some of whom gave emotional victim impact statements before the defendant was jailed.

The court heard from drivers who had seen Iqbal on the motorway, including Johnathan Hoyle who saw him six minutes before the crash and thought he was “an accident waiting to happen”.

Another driver, Sophie Dodswell, was said to “scream out” as he came within inches of her car at about 120mph.

Frank Hough, Ms Jules-Hough’s father, said his family had been devastated “all because a young man wanted to show off, wanted to show his friends on social media how daring and cool he thought he was”.

He added: “Our worlds have been torn apart and for what? So this boy could try to make himself feel like a big man.”

Calvin Buckley, Ms Jules-Hough’s partner, said in a victim impact statement: “What I witnessed that day, that weekend, those hours of desperation, those minutes praying for a miracle or those seconds watching my partner take her last breaths, will stay with me for a lifetime.”

Tom Spencer, her nine-year-old son’s father, described arriving at the scene. “Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw,” he said.

The court was told Iqbal had been convicted of driving without insurance in 2019 and in December 2021 posted a video to Facebook after filming himself speeding in a Lamborghini Huracan in Dubai.

Two months before the M66 crash, he was given a warning by police after being stopped while racing an Audi on public roads.

Passing sentence, Judge Maurice Greene told him: “She was killed as a result of the most indescribable reckless driving by you Adil Iqbal, leading to the devastation of a family.”

He was also banned from driving for 14 years.

Solicitor Rose Gibson-Harper, who represents the victim’s family, said the sentence was “insulting and an injustice” due to “an act of sheer stupidity”.

“Last year, judges were given the power to hand down greater sentences to those convicted of death by dangerous driving,” she said.

“Previously, the maximum tariff was 14 years but it was increased to life imprisonment.

“This case stands as one of the worst examples of dangerous driving I have witnessed in my 27-year career as a catastrophic injury lawyer, and we expected the justice system to fulfil its duty and utilise its new-found powers.”

Following Ms Jules-Hough’s death, a GoFundMe appeal was set up by a friend and has raised more than £50,000 for her family.

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