Driver who killed passenger as he raced at 100mph in East Yorkshire jailed

A driver who killed a friend in a crash after racing another car at speeds of more than 100mph has been jailed.

Alan Singleton was speeding along the A18 near Crowle, East Yorkshire, when his car struck a kerb, hit a lampost and crashed in a ditch, killing his passenger, 22-year-old Paul Needham.

Singleton, 41, of Bootham Crescent, Stainforth, admitted causing death by dangerous driving following the incident on 21 July, 2020, when he appeared at Hull Crown Court.

Nigel Clive, prosecuting, told the court that Singleton was travelling at around 90mph against the flow of traffic when he approached a roundabout.

Mr Clive said it was likely he did this to win a race.

He said: "Any vehicles entering [the roundabout] would have had no advanced view of Singleton's car. The defendant was gambling with other road users."

After the crash witnesses called emergency services and Singleton initially claimed he was run off the road by another vehicle that hit the rear of his car.

In a statement read in court, Mr Needham's partner, Rebecca, said his death had greatly impacted her and her children. The couple had a young daughter who was born a few months before Paul’s death.

She added: "She will never get to meet her daddy."

Helen Chapman, mitigating, told the court Singleton was remorseful about what happened.

"He has lost a close friend and has to live with that every day," she said.

Singleton refused to name the other driver involved in the race.

Singleton, who was already serving a suspended sentence, was jailed for seven-and-a-half years.