Drivers who killed mum and girl while racing jailed
Hardeep Bhachu and Jasskamal Riyat sentenced for dangerous driving that caused the deaths of Justyna Hulboj and her four-year-old daughter.
Quick Look
Hardeep Bhachu and Jasskamal Riyat have been jailed for 12 and 16 years respectively after their high-speed race in Leeds resulted in the deaths of Justyna Hulboj and her four-year-old daughter, Lena Czepczor, on 16 January 2023.
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Why It Matters
The incident occurred on 16 January 2023 when the defendants engaged in a high-speed race on Scott Hall Road in Leeds. The victims were pedestrians walking to a nursery when they were struck.
Two men who killed a mother and her four-year-old daughter as they raced their high-performance cars along a Leeds city centre road have been jailed.
Justyna Hulboj, 27, and her daughter Lena Czepczor were killed when they were hit by an Audi TT RS as they walked to the girl's nursery on the A61 Scott Hall Road on 16 January 2023.
At Leeds Crown Court on Monday, Hardeep Bhachu, 29, was jailed for 12 years and Jasskamal Riyat, 37, for 16 years.
Sentencing the men, Judge Singh said the road was "not a race track" and told them the deaths had consequences that were "immeasurable", with an "immense" impact on those left behind.
Bhachu, of Grant Row in Adel, had earlier admitted two counts of causing death by dangerous driving, while Riyat, of Buckstone Avenue in Moortown, was convicted by a jury after denying he had been racing him.
The court heard the pair, who did not previously know each other, accelerated away from traffic lights on Scott Hall Road shortly before the crash.
Prosecutors said Riyat's BMW reached speeds of up to 89mph in the 40mph zone before Bhachu lost control of his Audi, mounted the pavement and struck Hulboj and her daughter.
Judge Singh said the victims had "done nothing wrong" and were "simply walking to school".
Addressing the defendants, he said: "A road is not a race track. A powerful car is not an invitation to test its limits on a public road.
"The consequences of competitive driving at extreme speed can be, and in this case were, irreversible."
He added: "Justyna and Lena should have gone to school that morning. They should have returned home. They should have continued with their lives.
"Instead, their lives ended on a pavement because two drivers chose to drive in a manner which placed speed and competition above the safety of everyone around them."
Susannah Proctor, for Bhachu, told the court that her client was a "normal person who's made a massive mistake".
She said he "must live with himself in the knowledge of the devastation he has caused".
And she said: "He did not intend to cause this devastation but cause it he has."
Hulboj's fiancé Dominik Czepczor watched the sentencing hearing in court.
A statement from him was read, which said: "My whole world collapsed in one second.
"Every day I feel a huge void after their departure.
"We had so many hopes and dreams and in one moment it all ended.
"My dream was to have a wonderful family, and I must say that it came true for a short while, but that was taken away from me on January 16.
"Unfortunately, all that remains are wonderful memories and a constant fight for the next day, which is not easy."
Det Insp Paul Conroy, of West Yorkshire Police's Major Collision Enquiry Team, said: "A woman and her young daughter have died because of the actions of these men, and I know no sentence will ever feel enough to compensate for the lives that have been lost.
"This sentencing hearing though does mark the end of a long criminal justice process for Justyna and Lena's family.
"It is over two years since Bhachu admitted his part in this tragic incident and I know that the wait for justice has taken its toll.
"My thoughts are firmly with them today."
