A man who killed a pregnant woman when he hit her car while filming himself driving at up to 123mph on a motorway has had his sentence increased.
Adil Iqbal, 22, was jailed for 12 years in July for causing the death of Frankie Jules-Hough, 38, by dangerous driving on the M66 in Bury, Greater Manchester, on 13 May.
On Friday, three appeal court judges in London increased Iqbal’s jail term to 15 years after concluding the original sentence was unduly lenient.
The mother of two’s partner, Calvin Buckley, said he was disappointed the court had failed to impose a life sentence.
The appeal hearing was told that Iqbal, a boxing coach, was filming himself driving his father’s BMW 140i along the motorway, overtaking and undertaking vehicles at speeds of up to 123mph.
He swerved after undertaking a motorbike and hit a crash barrier, sending his car spinning into Jules-Hough’s Skodia Fabia, which was on the hard shoulder with a tyre puncture, at a speed of 92mph.
The original sentencing hearing was told Jules-Hough, 38, was making a call to say she would be late when she let out a “blood-curdling scream”. She was 17 weeks pregnant with her first daughter, Neeve, and had her two sons and a nephew in her car.
Jules-Hough sustained unsurvivable brain injuries and never regained consciousness. Her daughter died with her two days later in hospital.
Her son Thomas Spencer, nine, and nephew Tobias Welby, four, were left in comas with serious brain injuries, and their long-term outcomes remained uncertain, the court heard. Both spent weeks in intensive care.
Iqbal, from Accrington, Lancashire, was sentenced after pleading guilty to causing the death of Jules-Hough by dangerous driving and causing serious injury to her son and nephew.
After Friday’s hearing, Jules-Hough’s partner said: “My life, like so many others, was turned upside down because somebody wanted to show off, brag, boast and feed their own ego.
“The fact that [Frankie and Neeve] lost their lives in this way has made the tragedy more devastating. The way he drove that day was described as ‘an accident waiting to happen’. It was no accident, it was crime. A crime that could have been prevented and that needs a strong deterrent so that it doesn’t happen again.
“Our roads are being used daily as race tracks – endangering children and families’ lives for their own amusement. I ask the question, what more does somebody have to do to get a life sentence for causing death by dangerous driving?
“I am disappointed that another opportunity has been missed to try and clamp down on the growing issues of dangerous drivers and lawlessness on Britain’s roads.”
