Jailed: Brierley Hill man who caused high speed crash which killed woman and left two others injured

Shangeeth Sathyanathan was sentenced to nine years in prison at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday after the 20-year-old admitted charges of causing death by dangerous driving, causing serious injury by dangerous driving and driving without insurance.

The then-19-year-old, of Brettell Lane in Brierley Hill, had been driving an Audi A5 on the wrong side of the road on Great Hampton Street in Hockley in Birmingham in August last year when he ploughed into a Nissan Qashqai which was travelling on the correct side of the road.

The woman passenger in the Qashqai was pronounced dead at the scene, while the driver suffered serious back injuries and Sathyanathan and a passenger in his car were treated in hospital for minor injuries.

During the hearing at Birmingham Crown Court, it was found that the Audi had been travelling at 75mph at the time of the collision on a street which has a 30mph speed limit.

Sathyanathan was jailed for nine years and disqualified from driving for 12 years and six months.

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: "A 19-year-old speeding driver, who hit another car head-on killing the passenger and seriously injuring the driver, has been jailed for nine years.

"Now aged 20, Shangeeth Sathyanathan had been driving an Audi A5 on the wrong side of the road in Birmingham when the fatal collision happened in August last year.

"Sathyanathan, of Brettell Lane, Brierley Hill, had overtaken two other vehicles before ploughing into a Nissan Qashqai which was travelling on the correct side of the road.

"Sadly the woman passenger in the Qashqai was pronounced dead at the scene in Great Hampton Street, Hockley, while the driver suffered serious back injuries.

"Sathyanathan and a passenger in his car were both treated at hospital for minor injuries.

"Sathyanathan admitted three charges; causing death by dangerous driving, causing serious injury by dangerous driving and driving without insurance.

"From forensic evidence given to Birmingham Crown Court, the Audi was travelling at 75mph when it hit the Qashqai. The speed limit on Great Hampton Street is 30mph.

"At the hearing on Friday Sathyanathan was jailed for nine years and disqualified from driving for 12 years and six months."

Detective Sergeant Richard Evans, from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: "This was a deliberate decision by Sathyanathan to carry out a highly dangerous manoeuvre, at a speed very significantly in excess of the speed limit.

"The judge described the collision as horrifying, and that it was purely good fortune that the driver of the Qashqai did survive.

"We can only hope that the guilty plea and the jail term can in some way bring some comfort to those who lost so much in this collision."