A motorcyclist captured on CCTV racing his friend has been jailed for a 'shocking' manoeuvre which killed his pal during lockdown. Cambell Kennedy, then 23, and his friend Kyle Hempenstall, 28, had been using the roads like 'their own private race track' as they rode their powerful Yamaha R1 machines, a court was told.
Kennedy, who had earlier pulled a wheelie and given another driver the 'w***er hand gesture', led his friend between a Transit van and an HGV on the M62 when he suddenly hit the brakes and beckoned Kyle to follow, prompting the van to brake sharply and swerve towards the lorry.
Kyle's handlebar clipped the van as the gap narrowed. He lost control and his bike smashed into a highways maintenance digger. The father of one, who worked as a joiner, died of catastrophic injuries at the scene. Kennedy continued to speed away, turned around at the next junction and passed the scene of the crash he had just caused as he fled back to his home in Stockport.
