Father jailed over death of son, 3, after 100mph motorway race

A father who caused the death of his three-year-old son while racing another motorway driver at speeds of more than 100mph has been jailed for four-and-a-half years.

Israr Muhammed, 41, lost control of his 16-year-old Honda Civic while he and another driver - Adam Molloy, 29 - sped down the M62 in East Yorkshire.

At the time of the incident in July 2018, Muhammed had his two sons - aged three and eight - and his 11-year-old daughter in the vehicle, as well as his wife Safeena Ali.

The car spun across three lanes of traffic and collided with a tree on an embankment, while Molloy was able to flee the scene near the junction with the M18.

Muhammed's three-year-old son Say Han Ali - whose car seat was not secured properly - suffered catastrophic head injuries before dying.

Mrs Ali suffered major head wounds and spent months in a coma, and the couple's daughter was also left with serious facial injuries - including a fracture to her left eye socket.

Their other son was unharmed.

Sentencing Muhammed and HGV driver Molloy at Hull Crown Court on Monday, Judge David Tremberg recounted how the father had been seen driving "in an erratic and unsafe manner" for many miles before he crashed.

The judge said: "Expert assessment of the footage reveals that each of you was travelling in excess of 100mph and there were roughly 10 metres between your cars as you sped along.

"Other drivers formed the impression that you were racing and driving like idiots. I'm satisfied that you, Israr Muhammed, had a whole array of safe choices you could have made to avoid rising to the bait.

"Nobody forced you to exceed the speed limit, nobody could have done, nobody forced you to stay pig-headedly in the outside lane of the motorway because the middle lane was clear for a long stretch.

"You, Adam Molloy, elected not to give evidence at the trial. That's not surprising because no-one was forcing you to drive as you did and you could not have had an answer to why you were driving in such an aggressive and intimidating fashion at such a high speed and so close to the car ahead."

Muhammed, of Batley, West Yorkshire, was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving, two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, and one count of causing death while uninsured.

Molloy, of Normanton, West Yorkshire, was also jailed for four-and-a-half years following his conviction at a trial last month of causing death by dangerous driving and two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

The pair were also banned from driving for six years and three months each.

In a victim impact statement, Mrs Ali had urged the judge not to jail her husband: "If Israr is sentenced to jail this will have a huge impact on me and my children. I feel suicidal at the thought of him going to jail."

Andrew Semple, in mitigation for Muhammed, said he had an "unimpeachable" driving record and described him as a "loving family man, a hard worker".