Four men found guilty of causing death of Denii Reynolds

Denii Reynolds, 20, from Grimsby died following a crash on the A16 at Utterby, near Louth in Lincolnshire, in October 2021.

Ms Reynolds was a passenger in a 2008 Citroen C1, driven by her close friend Keelan Tuke, when it collided with a Vauxhall Corsa, seriously injuring the elderly occupant, Margaret Williams.

Four defendants went on trial at Lincoln Crown Court accused of causing Ms Reynolds death by dangerous driving.

Tuke, 21, of Grafton Street, Grimsby; Riley Duncombe, 19, of Thesiger Walk, Grimsby; Keigan Launder, 23, of Louth Road, Grimsby; and Josh Dobb, 21, of Hadleigh Road, Immingham, also denied a second charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving to the occupant of the Corsa.

But the jury convicted all four men of both charges after deliberating for three days.

The jury heard Tuke was in the lead vehicle driving the Citroen, while Dobb was in a Ford Fiesta van, Duncombe was driving a Ford Fiesta, and Launder was at the wheel of a Mercedes A180.

Jeremy Jane, prosecuting, said Mrs Williams was driving south along the A16 "perfectly properly" when without warning she was struck head-on by the Citroen being driven by Tuke which had ended up on the wrong side of the road.

Mrs Williams was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary after suffering a smashed right foot, a broken right leg and a broken wrist.

Within the Citroen, as a front seat passenger, was Mr Tuke's close friend, Ms Reynolds, who suffered catastrophic injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Mr Janes said it was not disputed that Tuke had caused the death of Miss Reynolds and serious injury to Mrs Williams.

"Put simply, we say all four of these defendants were effectively racing each other, along the A16, one behind the other, all doing grossly excessive speeds and to use the words of some of the witnesses, ‘up the a**e’ of the car in front of them," Mr Janes said.

"The ordinary, competent driver does not use the A16 as a racetrack. The ordinary, competent driver does not drive ‘up the a**e’ of the car in front.

"The way they had been driving, too fast, too close, bears all the hallmarks of competitive driving against each other in some sort of misplaced act of bravado.

"You have to choose to drive in that manner. No-one is making you do that and by choosing to do that, you have chosen to drive dangerously.

"There is a direct link between these four driving in that way as a group and the death of Denii Reynolds and the injuries, as serious as they were, to Margaret Williams. They were all in it together.

“If you all choose to race and compete with each other, it is not surprising that the vehicle in front of you is going to go a bit faster to stay ahead of you. You are all a cause of what happens if it goes wrong.

“They are all as bad as each other."

Images of the mangled Vauxhall Corsa and Tuke’s Citroen were shown to the jury of ten men and two women, as well as dashcam footage of the “convoy” taken from other cars.

Mr Janes said that the four defendants, who were friends, had driven from Cleethorpes to Louth, on the night of the incident and had a “cavalier approach” to driving and other road users.

Once arrived, they were seen to be behaving “antisocially” and were “pratting about”, Mr Janes said.

On the return journey, prosecutors said analysis found that at the time of the crash, Tuke was driving at speeds between 75mph and 98mph – the latter being the fastest the car could travel, according to its manufacturer – with the collision happening in a 50mph zone.

Dobb was estimated to be driving at between 89mph and 98mph.

Mr Janes said: “[Tuke] says he was but careless. We, the Crown, say that is to put it far too simply.

“We say, travelling at grossly excessive speeds on that road in that manner and ending up on the wrong side of the road can only be described as far below the standard we would expect from an ordinary, competent driver and can only be described as dangerous.

"Put simply, Mr Tuke was thrashing it, driving it at or just on the limits.”

During the trial, an additional charge of causing Ms Reynolds' death by careless driving was put to the four defendants in front of the jury.

Tuke entered a guilty plea, while the others pleaded not guilty.

According to analysis of dashcam footage, Mr Dobb's vehicle had been travelling at up to 99mph (159km/h) shortly before the crash, while Tuke's top speed had been calculated to be 98mph (157km/h).

Mr Janes asked Tuke what exactly he admitted doing wrong if he had no memory of the crash and suggested anywhere close to those speeds "would be considered silly or dangerous".

Tuke agreed, but told the court: "I went a little bit over the speed limit, but it wasn't excessive."

Tuke's barrister, Adam Pearson, asked his client if he was aware of the evidence that his car mounted the kerb and went across the verge before swerving across the road into traffic

"Yes," Tuke replied.

"So, although you can't remember that, you accept that must have been what happened?"

"Yes."

"Do you accept mounting the kerb and swerving across the road was below the standard of a competent and responsible driver?"

"Yes," Tuke added.

Dobb, under cross-examination from Mr Janes, was asked: "You are as responsible as anyone else?"

"It wasn't a race at all," Dobb claimed.

Judge James House KC adjourned sentence for updated impacted statements to be taken from members of Ms Reynolds’ family and from Mrs Williams.

Judge House thanked the jury for their service and explained to the jury that sentence would be adjourned for the preparation of probation reports on each of the defendants.

"Here a young lady lost her life, a woman was seriously injured, and four young men of previous good character have been on trial."

Judge House adjourned sentence until November 24 and granted the defendants bail, but he warned them: "A custodial sentence of some length is inevitable in this case."

A mandatory interim driving disqualification was also imposed on all four men.