Drink-driver jailed over 160mph motorway crash which killed young mother

A speeding motorist has been jailed for eight years after his passenger was killed when he crashed into a lorry while driving at more than 160mph.

Mother-of-one Joetta Shumba, 25, was pronounced dead at the scene of the collision on the M62 motorway in Greater Manchester on January 24.

Martin Grant, 30, of Jacey Road, Birmingham, was twice the legal alcohol limit at the time of the crash between the Eccles interchange and junction 11 of the motorway.

His Audi S3 car hit the lorry at such force that the larger vehicle overturned and slid on its side further up the motorway, said Greater Manchester Police (GMP).

The Audi continued to spin out of control for another 175 metres with the momentum ripping the engine from the car, resulting in it landing a further 50 metres down the road.

The driver of the lorry described hearing a loud bang and seeing a "fireball" fly past him before his vehicle started to overturn and he began to say goodbye as he was expecting to die, added police.

Grant was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court after he pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to causing Ms Shumba's death by dangerous driving and also drink-driving.

He also received a six-year driving ban.

Police revealed that Grant attempted to leave hospital while being treated after the collision, before officers stopped him and he was formally arrested.

Pc Paul Joynson, of the GMP serious collision investigation unit, said: "Martin Grant's recklessness and idiocy has left a young boy to grow up without his mother and taken a treasured friend and family member away from her loved ones.

"At the time of this collision, not only was he over twice the legal alcohol limit but he was driving at a ridiculous speed. He hit the lorry with such force that it tipped over and the driver thought he was going to die.

"His attempts to evade justice by trying to leave the hospital to the detriment of his own health to avoid being arrested would suggest that his only concern was himself.

"Although the sentence passed here today won't bring Joetta back, I hope it will allow her family to start to rebuild their lives."

In a statement issued after her death, Ms Shumba's family said: "Joetta was our everything. She loved her son more than life itself. We are completely devastated and heartbroken by our loss. We don't know how we are going to carry on.

"No words can describe the life that she lived and the legacy that she will leave in our hearts."