On August 18 2004 at approx 1.20 am Stephen Jackson And Leon Hughes were seen leaving Festival Park Retail Park in Stoke on Trent in separate cars. Stephen was on his way home to Audley. According to witness accounts the two cars were travelling at high speeds, estimated at 80-90 mph. Stephen was driving behind Leon Hughes . This is where he remained for the duration of the journey. It was raining so road conditions were poor. On a notorious section of the a500 Leon lost control of his car and left the road. This was due to a puncture in the cars rear tyre caused by a nail, poor road conditions, and the inexperience of the driver (he had only recently passed his test). The result was that Leon and one of his passengers died. Stephen was able to pull over at the scene, contact the emergency services and ultimately save the life of Leon's other passenger: Lee Scarlett. Stephen was breathalysed and tested for drugs the results of both tests were negative.
Subsequently, Stephen was charged with causing Death by dangerous driving. It was maintained by the police that the two drivers were racing at the time of the accident.
Despite Stephen's innocence he pleaded guilty to the charge as he was advised that he would most certainly be found guilty and receive a custodial sentence. The plea was entered ultimately to reduce his sentence.
This young man has been sentenced to 5 years in prison despite the following factors:
* There was no contact between the cars,
* Stephen never lost control of his car,
* He was behind the other car for the entire duration of the journey, so how is it possible that he was racing?
* No witnesses reported him to be driving erratically,
* He stayed at the scene of the accident and actively helped save the life of the passenger.
Stephen has admitted that he was driving at high speed. This has been proven to some degree by the prosecution. This in itself does not make a race when another person is also speeding. Ultimately this is all that has been proven. Stephen was driving at high speed on the way home , accompanied by Leon Hughes who was ALSO speeding.
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