Man jailed for dangerous driving after crash claimed the lives of two Bradford men

Volkswagen Golf GTi driver Ben Brearcliffe, 20, and front seat passenger Michael Hudson, 19, both of Queensbury, suffered fatal injuries when the car went out of control and crashed into a lamp post on Ovenden Road, Halifax, as it tried to keep up with a high-performance Vauxhall Astra VXR being driven by Dennis Roose.

Seconds before the crash in February last year, the two vehicles went through a red traffic light and witnesses estimated they were travelling at twice the 40mph limit.

Today, Judge Robert Bartfield said the decision by the Crown Prosecution Service not to charge 31-year-old Roose with causing death by dangerous driving was "wrong" in his view and a jury should have been asked to consider the case.

Prosecutor Michael Smith said the Crown had taken the view that there was "no causal link" that could be proved to the satisfaction of certainty, between what Roose did and how Mr Brearcliffe drove his Golf.

But Judge Bartfield said there appeared to be evidence upon which a jury could have concluded that the drivers were racing and that the defendant may have been a contributor to the deaths.

"My preliminary view is that this should have gone to a jury on the full charge and I respectfully disagree with what you have said," the judge told Mr Smith.

The court heard that a statement from William Naylor, who was rear seat passenger in the Golf, indicated that Mr Brearcliffe had been driving to keep up with the Astra not to race it.

The decision to charge only dangerous driving meant that the maximum prison sentence the judge could pass was two years and the relatives of the deceased were unable to put forward victim impact statements about the effect of the tragedy.

Father-of-three Roose, of Ash Tree Gardens, Mixenden, Halifax, pleaded guilty to the dangerous driving charge on the basis that he had driven at excessive speed and went through a red light after the Golf had driven up behind him.

But passing sentence Judge Bartfield said CCTV footage of the two similar high-powered cars in the lead up to the incident suggested that they had been "stalking one another and sizing each other up".

"I think you two drivers had decided at a fairly early stage that you are going to take each other on and a gauntlet had been thrown down which both of you took up," the judge told Roose.

After the collision Roose, who was in the Astra with his brothers, drove by the crash scene twice before leaving the area.

His barrister Stephen Grattage said his client was suffering from shock and now deeply regretted not stopping, but Judge Bartfield suggested that Roose had only been bothered about his own skin.

Roose, who was banned from driving for four years and ordered to take an extended re-test, handed himself into police the day after the crash and Judge Bartfield said he accepted that over time he had become extremely remorseful.