The heartbroken partner of pregnant Hollyoaks star Frankie Jules-Hough, who was killed by a dangerous driver in May, has said he has been ‘let down by the justice system’.
Calvin Buckley, spoke out about the ordeal on Good Morning Britain saying that his family has been unable to grieve or move on because of the injustice in the sentencing of her killer.
The mother-of-two, 38, died along with her unborn child, Neeve, after Adil Iqbal, 22, filmed himself driving at speeds of up to 123mph before losing control on the M66 in Bury, Greater Manchester on May 13.
On Friday appeal judges added three years to Iqbal prison sentence, increasing it from 12 to 15 years, after it was agreed to have been too lenient.
However, Mr Buckley expressed his disappointment that Iqbal had not been given a life sentence: ‘With the severity and how extreme the case is we did feel that it does warrant a life sentence.’
Hollyoaks star Frankie Jules-Hough and her unborn child were killed by Adil Iqbal in May
Since 2022, judges have been able to hand out life sentences to those convicted of deaths by dangerous driving, before this the maximum sentence had been 14 years.
Mr Buckley added: ‘I think, this whole life sentence, to me seems more like a token gesture, I don’t think anybody is actually going to be able to get it.’
He continued: ‘I was shocked and angry and very disappointed, that we felt we had been let down by the justice system, and it was really difficult for us as a family to move on, to grieve because of that.’
At the hearing on Friday Lord Justice Bean told the court: ‘This is the worst case of bad driving any of us can recall.’
Ms Jules-Hough, 38, who had pulled on to the hard shoulder of the motorway with a puncture, had her two sons and a nephew in her car when they were hit by Iqbal.
Ms Jules-Hough, 38, who had pulled on to the hard shoulder of the motorway with a puncture, had her two sons and a nephew in her car when they were hit by Iqbal
On Friday Iqbal jail term was increased from 12 years to 15 years after it was agreed the original sentence had been too lenient
She suffered unsurvivable brain injuries, and died two days later without regaining consciousness and her unborn daughter could not survive.
Her son, Thomas Spencer, nine, and nephew Tobias Welby suffered serious brain injuries and their long-term outcomes remain uncertain, judges heard.
Her other son was not badly hurt.
Iqbal, from Accrington, Lancashire, who worked in a gym and coached boxing to ‘disadvantaged’ children, had admitted causing death by dangerous driving and two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
He had been sentenced at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester in July where Judge Maurice Greene jailed him for 12 years and described the ‘most indescribable reckless driving’.
The judge had banned Iqbal from driving for 13 years and the appeal judges increased this to
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