Driver jailed for causing death of motorcyclist

Stuart Powell has been jailed for more than five years and will be disqualified from driving for seven years after release

A driver who told a "series of lies" has been jailed for causing the death of a motorcyclist.

Ryan Rudden, 26, was killed in Kemsley near Sittingbourne in May 2021. His passenger was also seriously injured.

Stuart Powell – who only had a provisional licence - left the scene without telling police his name and told his wife to report the car stolen, Maidstone Crown Court heard.

The family said the couple's actions added "so much more suffering".

Powell, a father of four, handed himself in to police 12 hours after the collision.

Judge Julian Smith said Mr Powell "decided to seek to evade responsibility - hence fleeing the scene - and asked his wife to help him".

He said he told a "series of lies".

Powell, aged 34, was imprisoned for five years and ten months, while his wife, Carly, aged 36, received an eight-month sentence, suspended for two years.

Ms Rudden said her son had been riding motorbikes since he was 16

Mr Rudden's passenger Adam Davies suffered multiple injuries, including fractures to the spine, a dislocated shoulder and the loss of all feeling in his right arm.

In a victim impact statement, he said the "lies and deceit" of the Powells "prolonged" his suffering.

Mr Rudden's brother Daniel said the actions of the Powells made the situation "so much worse", while his mother described her son as "loving, caring and generous".

She said he "would have done anything for anyone" and that the reality of never seeing him again was "utterly indescribable".