Two men who turned a Leeds road into a racetrack before a high-speed crash killed a mother and her four-year-old daughter have been sentenced to prison.
Hardeep Bhachu and Jasskamal Riyat had never met before they encountered each other at traffic lights. The pair then raced their powerful cars at speeds of up to 90mph through a residential area.
When they stopped at another red light, footage from the dashcam in Bhachu’s white Audi TT recorded them discussing the performance and horsepower of their vehicles.
Riyat, driving a black BMW 135i, was close behind Bhachu’s Audi when it struck Justyna Hulboj, 27, and her daughter, Lena Czepczor. The pair were walking to the girl’s nursery in Leeds.
Both mother and daughter died at the scene.
At Leeds Crown Court today, Bhachu, who admitted two counts of causing death by dangerous driving, was jailed for 12 years.
Riyat denied that he had been racing, but was found guilty of the same offences after a trial earlier this year. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
The court heard that the men came alongside one another during the morning rush hour on January 16, 2023, at traffic lights on the A61 in Leeds.
Justyna Hulboj, 27, and her four-year-old daughter Lena Czepczor were killed when an Audi mounted the pavement
Jasskamal Riyat, 37, from Leeds, was jailed for 16 years after he was found guilty of two counts of causing death by dangerous driving following a trial
Hardeep Bhachu admitted two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and was jailed for 12 years
Footage shown to the court pictures a powerful black BMW driven by Jasskamal Riyat, 37, and an Audi TT driven by Hardeep Bhachu
They accelerated aggressively, weaving through traffic at high speed and stopping only when they reached red lights.
At the last set of traffic lights before the crash, 37-year-old Riyat used his mobile phone to film 29-year-old Bhachu before both cars sped away.
Around 65 metres from where the collision occurred, the Audi was travelling at approximately 89mph. The speed limit in the area was changing from 40mph to 30mph.
The Audi then mounted the pavement and struck Miss Hulboj as she helped her daughter put on her coat. Riyat left the scene.
Sentencing both men, who are from Leeds, Judge Ray Singh said: ‘A road is not a racetrack. A powerful car is not an invitation to test its limits on a public road.
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‘The consequences of competitive driving at extreme speed can be, and in this case were, irreversible. Two people died.
‘One of them was a 27-year-old mother, the other was her four-year-old daughter. They had done nothing wrong; they were simply walking to school.’
Pictures captured the aftermath of the fatal crash in Leeds in January 2023
Riyat was driving a black BMW 135i when he met Bhachu by chance on his way to work
Riyat admitted during his evidence that he had been travelling at up to 50mph in the 40mph zone, had illegally used his mobile phone while driving and had undertaken other vehicles
He added: ‘Two families must now live with a loss that can never be undone. Justyna and Lena should have gone to school that morning. They should have returned home.
‘They should have continued with their lives. Instead, their lives ended on a pavement because two drivers chose to drive in a manner which placed speed and competition above the safety of everyone around them.’
In a victim impact statement, Miss Hulboj’s fiancé, Dominik Czepczor, said his ‘whole world collapsed in one second.’
‘Before 16 January 2023, my life was a fulfilment of my deepest dreams, I had everything that was most important in life,’ he said.
‘I had a good job, a wonderful fiancée, Justyna and a wonderful daughter, Lena.
‘Unfortunately, on the morning of January 16, when I said goodbye to my family with the words “I love you”, I didn’t know that it would be the last time I saw them.’
He added: ‘Every day I feel a huge void after their departure, and I imagine what it would be like if they were still alive. We had so many plans and dreams and in one moment it all ended.
‘I know that I will have to live with the burden of losing the two most important people in my life for the rest of my life.
‘I would like to live normally again without all this, but I know that it is no longer possible, no one will bring back the lives of my fiancée and my daughter.
‘This nightmare will last for the rest of my life.’
Defending Bhachu, Susannah Proctor told the court that her client was a ‘normal person who’s made a massive mistake.’
Riyat attempted to maintain that he was not driving dangerously and blamed Bhachu for what happened.