Utterby death crash accused drove erratically at speed, court told

Denii Reynolds died after a crash on the A16 at Utterby, near Louth

Four friends accused of causing the death of a woman in a crash near Louth were driving "erratically" at high speeds at the time, a court has heard.

Kieran Baldock was a passenger in the second of four vehicles travelling in convoy before the crash which killed Denii Reynolds on 26 October 2021.

He told Lincoln Crown Court the vehicle he was travelling in had reached speeds of up to 100mph (160km/h).

All four defendants deny causing death by dangerous driving.

At the time of the incident, Ms Reynolds, 20, was a passenger in a Citroen C1 which collided with a Vauxhall Corsa, seriously injuring its occupant, after veering across the road into its path on the A16 at Utterby.

Keelan 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 deny a second charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving to the occupant of the Corsa.

Giving evidence, Mr Baldock said that he met with the defendants and other friends at Cleethorpes Boating Lake on the night of the incident before travelling to Louth in Mr Dobb's Ford Fiesta van.

Mr Baldock said the manner of driving was fine as the group left the boating lake, but started to "get erratic" shortly afterwards.

"At one point, I looked down at the speedometer and it was at 100mph," he told the court.

The fatal collision occurred on the return journey to Cleethorpes in a 50mph zone after the Citroen C1, being driven by Mr Tuke, collided with the Corsa at about 21:45 BST close to the junction with Ings Lane.

Another witness, whose dashcam footage was shown to the jury, said the group had been travelling at high speeds shortly before the crash.

"It was like they were racing each other," he said.

Describing the moments before the incident, Mr Baldock told the court: "Keelan's brake lights came on around 50 feet before the sign for Utterby, then his back left wheel hit the grass verge.

"He started drifting, he tried to correct it, [then] over-correct it, and, yeah."

All four drivers were travelling at "grossly excessive speeds" in the moments before the crash, the court heard

Prosecutor Jeremy Janes told the court there was no dispute about what happened.

"Mr Tuke lost control of his vehicle."

However, he said all four drivers were travelling at "grossly excessive speeds".

"Put simply, we say all four of these defendants were effectively racing themselves along the A16. One behind the other," he said.

According to analysis of dashcam footage, Mr Dobb's vehicle had been travelling at between 89mph (143km/h) and 99mph (159km/h) shortly before the crash, while Mr Tuke's vehicle had been travelling at between 75mph (120km/h) and 98mph (157km/h).

Forensic investigator Karen Farmer told the court it was likely that Mr Tuke's vehicle had become "destabilised" by his attempts to correct its position after going on to the verge.

Under cross-examination, she said there was no evidence to suggest that any of the other defendants' vehicles had lost control, or skidded.

The trial continues.