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20th July 2023
08:12am BST
A “selfish” driver who killed a pregnant woman while filming a video on his phone of himself driving at 123mph has been jailed for 12 years.
Adil Iqbal, 22, had pleaded guilty to causing the death of Frankie Jules-Hough, 38, who suffered fatal injuries when he struck her with his BMW on the M66 in Greater Manchester.
The mum was 17 weeks pregnant with her baby girl Neeve, and had been travelling in her car with her sons Thomas, 9, and Rocky, 2, and her nephew Tobias, 4, on May 13.
But Iqbal lost control of his car while going more than 50mph above the 70mph limit and slammed into Frankie’s vehicle after she'd pulled over on the hard shoulder due to a punctured tyre.
Her two sons and nephew were in the car.
The mum suffered brain injuries and passed away in hospital two days later, and tragically, Neeve’s heart was still beating when doctors turned her life support off.
Thomas and Tobias were rushed to hospital by air ambulance and suffered long-lasting skull and spinal injuries, Their long-term outcomes remaining uncertain, the court heard.
Rocky was left relatively unhurt.
Iqbal, from Accrington, Lancashire, was filming himself driving his father's BMW with one hand on the wheel and the other holding his phone, with the likely aim of uploading the footage to social media to brag about the speeds he reached.
He was tailgating and undertaking other vehicles and swerved across lanes.
But as he undertook a motorbike, he swerved and lost control of the vehicle, hitting a crash barrier before spinning around and ploughing into Ms Jules-Hough's Skoda Fabia at an estimated 92mph.
Iqbal was able to climb out of his car through a window, and didn't take immediate responsibility for the incident when police spoke to him.
He was arrested at the scene before later pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and two offences of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Thomas’s dad revealed how Frankie had called him a second before the crash and let out a “blood-curdling scream” as she was hit while sitting in her Skoda Fabia.
Sentencing him at Manchester Minshull Court, judge Maurice Greene said the trauma that Iqbal caused on May 13 to Frankie’s family was indescribable.
He said: “Ms Julia Hough did not return from the journey.
"She was killed as a result of the most indescribably reckless driving by you, Adil Iqbal, leading to the devastation of a family.
“And furthermore, as a result of your driving, Tommy and Tobias were very seriously injured. The manner of your driving was clear for all to see.”
A number of Frankie's family gave moving victim impact statements during the trial.
Her dad, Frank Hough, broke down several times as he spoke about the loss of his daughter.
He said: “Frankie Jules-Hough was my daughter, my hero, the kind of human being you can only wish to be.
"But the kind of human being that we should aspire to be. She was warm, caring, humble, involved and dignified.
“My oldest daughter [was] born into this world by an emergency caesarean…From that day on Frankie became my priority, my reason – my reason behind every decision I made. My reason for being.
“She has now been needlessly and thoughtlessly ripped away from me. I have no idea how my life will be without Frankie.
“I should have been able to protect my little girl. I now know what it means to have your heart broken. It hurts more deeply than I could have ever imagined.
“I have lost one of the most precious things in my life.”
Frankie’s soon-to-be husband Calvin Buckley said they had held a gender reveal party for their daughter, Neeve, just a week before the crash
He said: “Frankie was pregnant and expecting our first daughter. We had only just decided on a name the night before and we chose Neeve.
“The week before the tragedy, we’d done a gender reveal and found I was going to be blessed by a girl, our daughter. It was the happiest moment of our lives.
“Thirty minutes before [the crash], I said my goodbyes and gave her a kiss and told her I loved her, my Queen, like always.
“The impact of this collision shattered my world to pieces and dismantled all my future plans and flipped my world upside down.
“The most precious parts of me are no longer here. My partner and my daughter can no longer live the life they deserve… My life felt like a horror film.”
Other motorists who saw Iqbal's driving said it was "an accident waiting to happen."
At one point, a motorist who he came up behind let out a scream as he accelerated to within “inches” of her back bumper.
Solicitor Rose Gibson-Harper, the solicitor for the victim's family, described the 12 year sentence for Iqbal as "insulting and an injustice" due to "an act of sheer stupidity", the BBC reports.
"Last year, judges were given the power to hand down greater sentences to those convicted of death by dangerous driving," she said.
"Previously, the maximum tariff was 14 years but it was increased to life imprisonment.
"This case stands as one of the worst examples of dangerous driving I have witnessed in my 27-year career as a catastrophic injury lawyer, and we expected the justice system to fulfil its duty and utilise its new-found powers."
Iqbal offered no comment in interviews and refused to give police his phone pin number, which later revealed the videos he’d taken just seconds before the crash.
But his defence counsel Balbir Singh said he was remorseful for his actions and was highly regarded by the community as a boxing and personal fitness trainer.
He said: “He does experience clear regret and deep remorse for his driving. It is something he must live with for the rest of his life.”
A GoFundMe set up for Jules-Hough's family has raised more than £54,000.
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