Death crash biker's appeal rejected

A TEENAGE biker whose dangerous riding caused the deaths of five people has failed to reduce his six-and-a-half year sentence in an Appeal Court.

Joshua Knights, 18, of Chesterfield Road, Shuttlewood, near Chesterfield, was jailed and banned from driving for ten years after admitting causing death by dangerous driving at Derby Crown Court. Knights was involved in a race with a car in Chesterfield Road, when the Ford Sierra collided with another car carrying a young family on September 22, 2007.

After hearing his appeal, the Criminal Appeal Court in London rejected his case against the sentence.

Knights was involved in a high-speed race with a Ford Sierra in Chesterfield Road, but the contest turned into tragedy when the Sierra collided with a car carrying a young family on September 22, 2007.

A boy aged seven and his four-year-old brother died when their mother's car collided with the Sierra near a railway bridge.
The driver of the Sierra was also killed, along with his brother and a friend.

Following the crash, Knights carefully negotiated his way through the carnage and carried on to a nearby village where he was seen performing wheelies and talked to people about what had happened.

Rejecting the appeal as having "no merit", Mr Justice Sweeney said all races had to involve two participants and that the loser had to bear responsibility, even if not physically involved in the ultimate consequences."

The judges reduced Knights' driving ban from ten to six years, after which he will have to take an extended test before getting a licence.