BMW driver Jack Hart jailed for killing two boys while speeding in bus lane in Yorkshire

Jack Hart was driving his partner’s BMW at 57mph – almost double the speed limit – in the bus lane on Anlaby Road during rush hour, when he hit Steven Duffield, 10, and Mason Deakin, 11, in October 2020.

Steven, who was sitting on the handlebars of the bike, died in hospital shortly after the crash and Mason, who was riding the bike, died two weeks later.

The court heard that Hart, who has been fined six times for travelling in bus lanes, slammed on his brakes and swerved to try and avoid the collision. But he also got rid of the car’s dash cam before police arrived on the scene.

When Hart was interviewed by police, he said: “The boys came at me on a bike on the wrong side of the road and there’s no way I could have avoided the collision.”

The 32-year-old originally denied two counts of causing death by dangerous driving, but changed his pleas to guilty on Monday, the day before a jury was due to be sworn in for his trial at Hull Crown Court.

In a victim impact statement, Alison Duffield said her son Steven was a “kind-hearted” boy who enjoyed going out with his friends, playing on his PlayStation, watching football and going on holiday with his family.

“My life ended that day (when Steven died),” she said. “I have no life. Steven was my life but he’s gone.

“My husband was destroyed by Steven’s death. He is a shell of the man he was.”

Kirsty Gould said she will “never get over” the death of her “loveable” son Mason and her other son, who witnessed the crash, has been left traumatised.

“I cannot explain the pain and suffering me and my family have been through,” she said. “I cannot get over the fact I will never see him grow, learn and become a man.”

In a letter read to the court, Hart told the families he is “truly sorry for what has happened”.

“If I could have swapped, I would have. I wish it was me who died. I think about the boys everyday,” he added.

However, Judge John Thackray said Hart had failed to show “a jot of remorse” since the crash and his “only true emotion thereafter has been self pity”.

The judge criticised him for getting rid of the dash cam footage, “telling lies” to police and waiting until the last minute to plead guilty.

He also said Hart had made a “deliberate decision to ignore the rules of the road” and this put other people at “great danger”.

He added: “In my judgement, this was an accident waiting to happen as you used the bus lane as your own personal racing track, whilst driving a high-performance BMW.

“At your speed whilst undertaking numerous cars, you could not possibly react to the sort of unforeseen circumstances which inevitably arise in built up areas during rush hour.”

Hart has been jailed for nine years and disqualified from driving.