Two Jailed For Bus Stop Crash Which Killed Student Rebecca McManus

1 December 2015, 18:24 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

Two men have been jailed for a high speed crash which killed a student in Oldbury.

Rebecca MacManus was waiting for bus when 33-year-old Sukvinder Mannan from Halesowen's Mitsubishi Evolution ploughed into her.

Her friend was also seriously injured.

He's got 8 years in jail after admitting causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving

31-year-old Inderjit Singh form Wolverhampton has got a year in jail for his part in the racing. He was cleared of causing death by dangerous driving but pleaded guilty to dangerous driving after racing in his BMW M3.

The court heard how Mannan had reached in excess of 100mph in a 40 zone just before the crash on the evening of 31 May last year.

Rebecca, who had just finished a three-year English Literature and Creative Writing degree at the University of East Anglia, was treated by paramedics, but her injuries were so catastrophic she died at the scene. Her friend who was also 21 at the time of the crash, still continues to recover from serious injuries. 

Utter Devastation

Her family have spoken of their loss: The said: “There are no words that can convey the utter devastation we feel at the loss of our beautiful Rebecca.  She was so full of life and looking forward to graduating from University to continue her life’s journey.  Our lives are empty without her and we are sentenced to a lifetime of pain and grief.

“We will never accept the not guilty verdict handed to Singh and the unacceptable message this sends out to those racing up and down the highways of the West Midlands.  He played a part in the death of our beloved daughter as she would still be here if that race hadn’t taken place.  

“Neither is the motor industry without blame or shame.  The constant marketing of performance cars in terms of speed and thrills with no acknowledgement to road safety or the Road Traffic Act is despicable.  Performance cars have no place on the road.”

101mph Crash

Sergeant Paul Hughes, from the force’s Collision Investigation Unit, said: "The Evo was calculated to have been travelling at 101mph in a 40mph limit immediately before losing control and ploughing into the bus stop.

"These drivers were not young inexperienced drivers but professional working men who decided to race each other - for reasons we will never understand - along a busy suburban highway. 

"Rebecca and her friend were on a night out and did the right thing, they planned their night and decided to catch a bus into town. They thought they would be safe. 

"It was the senseless and reckless actions of two men that changed two families’ lives forever."