Fatal crash: Car driver’s sentence enhanced to 15 years

A LANCASHIRE man, jailed for killing a pregnant woman in a road accident in May this year, has had his prison term increased to 15 years.

Adil Iqbal was sentenced by Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown in July to a 12-year jail term after he was found guilty of driving a speeding BMW which struck the rear of actress Frankie Jules-Hough’s car, resulting in fatal injuries to her.

But the judgment was challenged in the Appeal Court in London, with solicitor general Michael Tomlinson contending that the jail term was too lenient, considering Iqbal’s reckless driving.

Lord Justice Bean, Justice Murray and Judge Anthony Leonard heard that Iqbal, 22, was driving his vehicle dangerously at speeds of up to 123 mph as he weaved between traffic on the M66 in Bury on May 13.

He lost control of his vehicle which hit Jules-Hough’s Skoda Fabia. The woman, who had been travelling with three children, had pulled her vehicle over onto the hard shoulder to check a tyre. The collision took place when she was speaking to her family over the phone.

Jules-Hough, who had starred as Jess Holt in the Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks, received skull and brain injuries and died two days later as she never regained her consciousness. She was 17 weeks pregnant at the time of the crash.

Two children suffered brain injuries – one had multiple skull fractures and the other had a partial collapse of the left lung and a spinal ligament injury. The third child escaped with minor injuries.

Iqbal, who was arrested at the scene of the collision, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.

Lord Justice Bean last Friday (13) called it “the worst case of bad driving any of us can recall”.

“We find it hard to imagine a worse case of bad driving than this one,” he said, adding that the case was exceptional.

The judges added three years to the original prison term.