Two drivers who killed a mother and her young daughter while racing their high-performance cars on a Leeds city centre road have been jailed. Hardeep Bhachu, who admitted two counts of causing death by dangerous driving, was sentenced to 12 years, while Jasskamal Riyat, found guilty of the same offences after a trial, was jailed for 16 years.
Fatal crash on Scott Hall Road
Justyna Hulboj, 27, and her daughter, Lena Czepczor, were walking to the four-year-old's nursery when they were hit by a white Audi TT on the A61 Scott Hall Road on January 16, 2023. The driver of the Audi, Bhachu, lost control and struck Justyna and Lena before colliding with the wall of the Vertu Jaguar Leeds car dealership. Both Justyna and Lena died at the scene.
Enquiries revealed that in the minutes before the crash, Bhachu had been racing a black BMW 135i. This vehicle was eventually tracked to Riyat, who was captured racing on Bhachu's own dashcam footage.
Dashcam evidence and sentencing
The pair could be heard discussing the speed of their vehicles, with Bhachu telling Riyat: "I was at a quarter throttle. 560 horsepower." Riyat was heard saying "Enjoy that, enjoy that" as both laughed. Later, on footage showing Bhachu speeding off into the distance, Riyat was heard saying: "Watch this guy lay...He's gone blud."
At Leeds Crown Court on Monday (26 October), Judge Ray Singh sentenced Bhachu and Riyat. The judge told the pair: "A road is not a racetrack. 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."
Judge's remarks and family impact
Judge Singh added: "Two people died. One of them was a 27-year-old mother, the other was her four-year-old daughter. They had done nothing wrong; they were simply walking to school." He continued: "Two families must now live with a loss that can never be undone. 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."
Following the verdict in August, Justyna's fiancé and Lena's father said: "Before 16 January 2023, my life was a fulfilment of my deepest dreams, I had everything that was most important in life. I had a good job, a wonderful fiancée, Justyna and a wonderful daughter, Lena." He added: "Unfortunately, on the morning of January 16, when I said goodbye to my family with the words 'I love you', I didn't know that it would be the last time I saw them. When I was informed about their deaths, my whole world collapsed in one second."
He continued: "Every day I feel a huge void after their departure, and I imagine what it would be like if they were still alive. We had so many plans and dreams and in one moment it all ended." He said: "I know that I will have to live with the burden of losing the two most important people in my life for the rest of my life. I would like to live normally again without all this, but I know that it is no longer possible, no one will bring back the lives of my fiancée and my daughter. This nightmare will last for the rest of my life."
He concluded: "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 the 16th of January. Unfortunately, all that remains are wonderful memories and a constant fight for the next day, which is not easy."
