Driver killed cousin after car crashed in 'road race'

VICTIM WAS FRONT-SEAT PASSENGER IN HORROR RANGE ROVER SMASH

- ANDREW BARDSLEY

THE driver of a Range Rover lost control and ploughed into a phone mast, killing his front-seat passenger, after 'racing' with an Audi along a main road.

Danyal Ul-Haq, 23, died while a passenger in a blue Range Rover Sport, driven by his cousin Hassnain Ul-Haq.

Another relative in the car, Sameer Ul-Haq, suffered serious injuries.

Manchester Crown Court heard that Hassnain Ul-Haq, from Oldham, had been 'racing' an Audi driven by Hamza Hussain. Hussain had never passed a driving test. Both cars had been driving at more than double the 30mph speed limit before the Range Rover lost control, on July 12, 2022.

Following the horror crash, which happened in the early hours on Hyde Road in Gorton, Hussain and his friend Romaesa Akhtar, 25, a passenger in the Audi which she owned, lied about who had been driving the car, in a bid to cover for him because he was not insured.

Hassnain Ul-Haq, 33 and Hussain, 28, have both been locked up after admitting causing death by dangerous driving. Horrifying CCTV footage of the collision was played in court, as family members watched on. Danyal Ul-Haq's mother, Rukshana Kauser, told of her grief at her loss.