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Young driver who caused man's death was distracted by music app

He was driving on the M62 in East Yorkshire when he crashed his car into the back of another vehicle

[Ryan Richardson has been locked up]

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Ryan Richardson has been locked up(Image: Hull Live)

A young driver caused the death of a 68-year-old man by crashing into the back of the victim's car after becoming distracted trying to replay a song that he had just listened to on the music stereo system through his phone. A queue of traffic was building up in front of him but the young motorist did not realise this until it was too late to avoid a collision.

The death of the "much loved" victim had "brought lifelong grief and misery" to his family, Hull Crown Court heard. Ryan Richardson, 20, of Brough, admitted causing the death of the other motorist by dangerous driving on February 26 last year.

Robert Stevenson, prosecuting, said that Richardson was driving a Toyota Yaris car on the eastbound M62 motorway between junctions 37 and 38, between Howden and North Cave, at about 4.40pm. He drove into the back of a Toyota Aygo car, which was queueing behind two other cars because of roadworks.

There had been warning signs about likely delays on the approach to that area. Richardson was driving at 59mph when his car hit the back of the vehicle in front of him.

The other car was shunted into the back of the one in front of it, with that vehicle shunted into the back of the next car. The 68-year-old driver of the car in front of Richardson died at the scene from his injuries.

The driver of the next car and his wife suffered minor injuries but the driver furthest ahead was uninjured. The other vehicles were damaged.

During police interview, Richardson said that he was distracted by his mobile phone at the time of the crash because he had been playing music on the car stereo, using a Spotify app on his phone. He was rewinding a song at the time of the impact. The phone was in a cradle, however.

David Godfrey, mitigating, said that there were references for Richardson, including from his employer. "At no point has he underestimated or undermined the significance of what he did that day," said Mr Godfrey. "He has shown genuine remorse for what is an act that has changed the lives of a family forever."

Richardson had written a letter saying that his "selfish actions" had tragically resulted in an innocent person losing his life and leaving his friends and family with a lifetime of grief. He would never forget or truly stop suffering from the effects of it.

"I am genuinely sorry for what I have done," he said. Mr Godfrey added: "He has come prepared for custody and he has accepted that."

The references showed Richardson to be a "good lad who has done something terrible on a particular day". He had no previous convictions. He was 18 at the time of the crash and he had been driving with a full licence since July 19, 2023.

Judge John Thackray KC said of the victim: "He was much loved. It's evident from the personal statements of his wife and daughter that he was a wonderful husband and father."

Judge Thackray told Richardson: "You ended a life and you have brought lifelong grief and misery to his family. At a critical point of your journey that day, you allowed yourself to be distracted by using your telephone whilst it was in a cradle.

"It was that distraction on a motorway within road works that caused you to fail to see stationary traffic ahead. Up until that point that you were distracted at a critical point, there was no criticism of your driving.

"No sentence I can impose can bring him back. No sentence I can impose can undo the damage that you have done. I accept that there is genuine, sincere remorse here. That's evident from the letter that you have written."

Richardson, who had been on bail, was sent to a young offenders' institution for two years and eight months. He was banned from driving for six years and he must pass an extended retest before he can drive legally again.

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