A man who filmed himself speeding at 123mph as he weaved between motorway traffic has been jailed for 12 years after killing a pregnant mother-of-two in a road smash.
Adil Iqbal, 22, was driving 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, reaching 123mph in his father’s BMW car on the M66 in Bury, Greater Manchester, on May 13 this year.
Frankie Jules-Hough, 38, had pulled over on the hard shoulder with a tyre puncture, with her two sons and nephew in the car, and was making a call to say she would be late when she let out a “blood-curdling scream”, Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester heard.
Iqbal’s 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.
Ms Jules-Hough, 17 weeks pregnant with her first daughter, Neeve, suffered unsurvivable brain injuries. Her daughter died with her when she passed away two days later in hospital surrounded by her family, having never regained consciousness.
Her son, Thomas Spencer, nine, and nephew Tobias Welby were left in a coma suffering serious brain injuries and their long-term outcomes remain uncertain, the court heard.
Both spent weeks in intensive care.
Ms Jules-Hough was on the phone to Thomas’s father who, along with other family, dashed to the scene of the mangled car wreck as emergency services and air ambulances descended.
She was killed as a result of the most indescribable reckless driving by you, Adil Iqbal, leading to the devastation of a family— Judge Maurice Greene
Dashcam footage and footage from Iqbal’s phone was shown to the court, watched by relatives of Ms Jules-Hough, some of whom gave heart-rending victim impact statements before the defendant was jailed.
Iqbal, from Accrington, Lancashire, admitted two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and one count of causing death by dangerous driving.
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.”
Earlier, the court was told Iqbal was 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 deadly crash, he was given a warning by police after being stopped while racing an Audi car on public roads.
On the day of the smash, other drivers’ dashcam footage caught Iqbal aggressively tailgating and undertaking on an A road leading to the motorway, with his car fish-tailing and swerving.
In the seconds before the collision, the dash of the BMW shows approximate speeds of 107mph, up to 123mph, which shows more than once— Prosecutor Rob Hall
Motorist Johnathan Hoyle, who saw Iqbal six minutes before the crash, thought he was “an accident waiting to happen”, the court was told.
Iqbal caused another driver, Sophie Dodswell, to “scream out” as he came within inches of her car at about 120mph.
Rob Hall, prosecuting, said Iqbal was filming himself at the time, adding: “It may have been his intention to upload this video to Facebook as well.
“In the seconds before the collision, the dash of the BMW shows approximate speeds of 107mph, up to 123mph, which shows more than once.”
Mr Hall said Iqbal dropped his phone as he lost control of the car and hit Ms Jules-Hough’s car.
Seconds before, Tom Spencer, Thomas’s father, took the call from her to say she would be late.
Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw— Tom Spencer
He told the court in a statement: “’Hi, Tom’, I heard Frankie say before she let out the most blood-curdling scream. Next the impact and then silence.
“After a few moments, I could hear people trying to help. I heard a man say, ‘We’re not supposed to move bodies.”
Mr Spencer, who drove to the scene, added: “Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw.”
His son was “limp and lifeless” and he told him: “Daddy is here, mate. Please come back to me.”
Ms Jules-Hough’s partner, Calvin Buckley, the father of unborn Neeve, arrived to find her lying unconscious and badly injured.
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— Calvin Buckley
She was taken to hospital along with Thomas and Tobias. Her youngest son, Rocky, two, who was also in the car, was relatively unscathed.
Mr Buckley 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.”
Frank Hough, Ms Jules-Hough’s father, said his family has 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.
“Our worlds have been torn apart and for what? So this boy could try to make himself feel like a big man.”
Iqbal was also banned from driving for 14 years.
