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BMW driver jailed for nine years for killing two boys while speeding in bus lane

Steven Duffield, 10, and Mason Deakin, 11, died in the accident in Hull.

Steven Duffield, 10, and Mason Deakin, 11, died in the accident.
Steven Duffield (L), 10, and Mason Deakin, 11, died in the accident. (Reach)

A BMW driver who killed two schoolboys while speeding down a bus lane has been jailed for nine years.

Jack Hart, 32, was undertaking vehicles and driving at around 57mph in a 30mph zone when he hit best friends Steven Duffield, 10, and Mason Deakin, 11, in Hull on 19 October, 2020.

Both boys were taken to Hull Royal Infirmary but later died.

Hart removed and destroyed dash cam evidence from his high-performance car and later lied to the police, Hull Crown Court heard.

He finally changed his pleas to guilty – many months after he originally denied the allegations and he left it until the day before a trial before he formally admitted his actions.

Jack Hart was undertaking vehicles and speeding when he hit the schoolboys. (Reach)
Jack Hart was undertaking vehicles and speeding when he hit the schoolboys. (Reach)

Steven and Mason were on a bicycle and riding along a busy stretch of Anlaby Road near the East Yorkshire buses garage when the accident happened at 6.06pm.

They were on a bicycle in the same bus lane and were heading against the flow of traffic towards Hart, with Mason riding and Steven sitting on the handlebars.

Steven died later on the same day.

Mason was kept in intensive care and was transferred to a hospital in Leeds, where he remained in a coma and on life support.

He died two weeks later, with his family by his bedside.

Tributes to Mason Deakin and his best friend Steven Duffield. (Reach)
Tributes to Mason Deakin and his best friend Steven Duffield. (Reach)

Hart, of West Hull, admitted causing the death of Steven on 19 October, 2020 and causing the death of Mason on 2 November, 2020 by dangerous driving on Anlaby Road.

Judge John Thackray KC told Hart: "It's clear you caused devastation to the families of those boys in addition to the loss of life of two young boys who had their whole life ahead of them."

He added Hart had used the bus lane as his "own personal racing track".

Hart, who had six penalty charges for using a bus lane in the previous year, was banned from driving for 13 years and will have to pass an extended retest before he can drive again.