VIDEO: 'Thrill-seeking' driver jailed after crash kills friend

Police said Travis Madden, of West Way, Three Bridges, was convicted of causing the death by dangerous driving of 22-year-old Shahid Moghal in Crawley.

Mr Moghal was a front seat passenger in a silver Toyota Starlet hatchback that Madden was driving on October 14, 2016. Police said the car smashed into a tree on A2011 Crawley Avenue, after Madden attempted to perform a 'Formula One slip-stream overtake'.

Mr Moghal, from Furnace Green, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said Madden, 22, was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving following a five-day trial at Hove Crown Court and on Friday, January 19, was sentenced to five years in prison. He also faces a five-year driving ban once he is released.

Prior to the trial, Madden admitted causing Mr Moghal’s death while uninsured, and five unrelated counts of dangerous driving on roads in Sussex and Surrey while riding a Kawasaki ZX6R motorcycle between June and September 2016.

Police have released the following footage of Madden riding his motorcycle on the M23 which shows him answering his phone whilst undertaking at speeds of 110mph and checking his Sat Nav at more than 80mph.

He was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment for causing death whilst uninsured, and six months on each of the dangerous driving offences, all to run concurrently and all concurrent to his five year jail term, so that he is imprisoned for five years in all, officers added.

Judge Jeremy Gold told Madden: “Your mindset at the time of the collision was that you drove in pursuit of thrill-seeking, no doubt thinking you were invincible. This case in an example of the tragedy that comes from that mindset."

After the sentencing, Sergeant Rob Baldwin, of the Surrey and Sussex Roads Policing Unit, said: “An independent witness who saw the collision told the court how he saw Madden performing a 'Formula One slip-stream overtake’ of another vehicle, before losing control of his vehicle, leaving the road and colliding with a tree.

"During the course of our investigation we recovered videos from Madden’s mobile phone, and subsequently from his home computer. These videos were recorded by Madden himself whilst riding his high-powered Kawasaki motorcycle in the four months prior to the fatal collision.

"The videos showed him riding at grossly excessive speeds, racing, undertaking other vehicles, and on one occasion using a mobile phone whilst riding at speed.

"It is clear that Madden was a young man who enjoyed the thrill of speed, and had a propensity to drive dangerously, with little or no room for error. He had no regard to the risks he posed to other road users or to himself. Driving in this manner, it was inevitable that at some point he would crash.

"There is no place for dangerous driving on our roads, and we continue to target drivers who take such risks. I would encourage anyone who witnesses such driving to report it immediately on 999, pass information via the Operation Crackdown website or call 101."