Kent man who drove 117mph before crashing and killing his teenage passenger jailed
He ignored pleas to stop before losing control of the car
Last updated 31st Jan 2025
A Kent man who killed a teenage girl after he drove three times the speed limit and crashed his car has been jailed for six years.
Jack Cracknell was driving four people back from a nightclub in his Ford Fiesta in the early hours of Saturday 3 December 2022.
An investigation showed he had reached a speed of around 117mph while travelling up a 40mph speed limit stretch of the New Dover Road in Canterbury.
He then lost control of the vehicle which left the road before colliding with a roundabout, street furniture and The Old Gate Inn pub and hotel.
Lucy Billingham, 18, was one of four passengers in the car and was sitting in the rear left seat of the vehicle when the collision took place.
She suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased by paramedics at the scene.
Another of the car's occupants suffered a serious broken wrist and bruising to his body and arms.
A police investigation found Cracknell had been taking people to and from a nightclub in the city that night, before offering Lucy and a friend a lift to a hotel.
He had driven past the hotel however and ignored pleas to stop the vehicle as he increased his speed while driving up New Dover Road before the collision.
The detailed investigation involved sending a part of the vehicle to its manufacturer in France so it could be properly analysed.
Cracknell, now 22, of Ospringe, Faversham, was arrested that night and later charged with causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
This is the moment officers arrived to speak to him:
He admitted both charges before Canterbury Crown Court in November 2024 and was sentenced to six years at the same court on Friday 31 January 2025.
Detective Constable Lee Berridge, Kent Police's investigating officer, said:
'I hope this tragic case sends out a message to all motorists that driving recklessly and at high speeds can have catastrophic consequences.
Lucy Billingham's death was completely avoidable, had Cracknell driven sensibly and within the speed limit on the night of this incident.
My thoughts and those of my team are with her family and friends, as they continue to remember her and mourn their loss.'