Drivers jailed after death chase

Two men who killed three elderly women as they raced their sports cars on a 40mph Surrey road have each been jailed for seven years.

Adrian Kuti, 42, and Richard Cherry, 31, both of south London, had already been convicted at Guildford Crown Court of causing death by dangerous driving.

The court heard they reached speeds of up to 100mph on the A217 near Banstead.

The race ended when one car hit another vehicle, killing three women inside. A fourth woman was seriously injured.

Sentencing the pair on Wednesday, Judge Neil Stewart said the fact that the two men had been showing off and racing had added to the length of their jail terms.

Kuti, driving a Porsche Cayenne, and Cherry, in a new Toyota Celica, had never met each other when they drew up at traffic lights, but they started racing.

Nothing we can do can ever bring them back Paul McGorry

Witnesses described them chasing each other, often bumper to bumper, and weaving in and out of lanes.

The Porsche collided with the Proton at the junction of the A217 and Burgh Wood.

Driver Joan Harp, 78, and passengers Kathleen Deards, 83, and Joan Clover, 83, all died, and Elsie Gallagher, 86, survived, but now cannot walk without the aid of a frame.

The four women were returning from a bingo hall.

Plant manager Kuti, from Mitcham, and quantity surveyor Cherry, from Carshalton, were found guilty of three counts of causing death by dangerous driving earlier this month.

After the hearing, collision investigator Chris Annetts said the defendants would have to live with their actions for the rest of their lives.

Prosecutor Paul McGorry said: "Nothing we can do can ever bring them back, but the CPS joins the court in expressing its condolences to those touched by this incident."