A Huddersfield man has been jailed for seven years after his passenger was killed when he crashed while racing another driver in his high-performance car.

Thomas Jessop, 28, of Blenheim Chase, Scissett, and the other driver, Alexander Clacker, were both found guilty by a jury of causing the death by dangerous driving of 34-year-old David Thompson.

Their trial at Leeds Crown Court heard Mr Thompson died weeks later on May 13, 2015 from injuries he sustained when Jessop lost control of his BMW M3 as he drove along the A650 Wrenthorpe bypass at Wakefield, racing Clacker’s Mitsubishi Evo.

The car hit a lamp-post and trees and overturned, leaving Mr Thompson trapped inside. Jessop, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was thrown from the car and suffered extensive injuries including a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain.

Sentencing both Jessop and Clacker, 22, of First Avenue, Wakefield, to seven years in prison yesterday, Judge Simon Phillips QC said they had “engaged in a challenge” and had driven at excessive speed, depriving a young man of his life.

Clacker’s passenger Rachel Lloyd had looked at the speedometer during the journey and believed it showed 140mph.

Leeds Crown Court
Leeds Crown Court

The judge disqualified both drivers for five-and-a-half years.

Simon Waley, prosecuting, told the jury the tragic events on April 18, 2015, started when the two drivers saw each other at lights at the M1 junction and Clacker took up the challenge initiated by Jessop.

After the crash Clacker stopped and told Lloyd to ring for an ambulance. She initially gave a “sanitised” account of his speed but three months later described how scared she had been and told the truth. She gave evidence at the trial.

Christopher Moran, representing Jessop, said his client had no memory of the crash. Mr Thompson had been a good friend and he felt genuine remorse about what had happened.

Jessop had been in a coma for a time, had already had 12 operations, spending 50 hours in surgery as a result of his own injuries, and faced further treatment in the future.

Lloyd, 23, of St John’s Crescent, Ossett, admitted doing an act intending to pervert the course of justice and was given nine months in prison, suspended for 12 months, after the judge said she had tried to make amends following her earlier “misguided loyalty” to Clacker.