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Moment ‘show off’ driver asks ‘am I going to jail?’ after killing girl, 18, in shock 117mph crash while covered in blood

THIS is the moment a driver covered in blood asks police if he is going to prison after killing a teenage girl in a high speed crash.

Jack Cracknell was aged just 20 when he lost control of his Ford Fiesta ST after going 117mph in a 40mph zone and smashing into a pub.

Mugshot of Jack Cracknell, 22, jailed for six years for causing a fatal car crash.
PA
Jack Cracknell, 22, has been jailed for six years for killing a teenage girl in a car crash[/caption]
A blood-covered man sits in a chair, speaking to police officers.
Cracknell admitted to the crash when questioned by police
SWNS
Woman sitting at a restaurant table.
Kent Police
Lucy Billingham, 18, was killed in the high-speed collision[/caption]

Cracknell’s 18-year-old passenger Lucy Billingham suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene in Canterbury, Kent.

Three others were also in the high-powered motor at the time and all suffered due to the reckless driving.

Footage of Cracknell’s arrest shows police officers talking to him inside The Old Gate Inn pub and hotel which he left badly damaged in the crash.

The cocky motorist was seen slumped onto a chair covered in blood as he calmly speaks to the officers about the deadly drive.

Bodycam footage from the early hours of December 3, 2022 shows Cracknell confessing to speeding at “120” in a move he admitted was “stupid”.

In the uncomfortable clip, Cracknell asks a Kent police officer: “Can you tell me, am I going to prison for this?”

He is met with the reply: “It depends what happens.

“Obviously you are telling me you’re going to go to prison.

“I don’t know how you were driving before or what you were doing.”

The police continue to probe the crash, at one point quizzing Cracknell about his speed.

After revealing he was travelling at almost three times the speed limit, Cracknell says: “It’s stupid. I’m definitely going to prison.”

Before later saying: “I’m so, so sorry.”

The driver, from Ospringe, Faversham, was arrested later that night and charged with causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Teenager Lucy was sat in the back left seat of the car at the time of the crash which took place in the early hours of the day.

Lucy’s mum Heather Kemsley, described her daughter as “a bright, bubbly girl”.

She was due to start a new job just after the fatal smash.

Cracknell was dropping off a group of passengers after picking them up from Club Chemistry nightclub when the tragedy happened at 4.20am, Kent police said.

Colby Ainger was sat next to Lucy in the rear of the Fiesta and suffered a serious broken wrist and bruising to his body.

A police probe later found his fellow passengers pleaded with him to slow down moments before the deadly pub collision.

Now aged 22, Cracknell pleaded guilty to both charges at Canterbury Crown Court in November 2024.

He was sentenced to six years in prison and given an eight-year driving ban. 

Judge Simon James said: “Looking at the photographs of the resultant damage it is a miracle that anyone survived.

“Lucy’s death was caused by your irresponsibility, criminally reckless speed and abject failure to have regard to the safety of others.”

The car reportedly ended up on its roof, he added.

Detective Constable Lee Berridge added: “I hope this tragic case sends out a message to all motorists that driving recklessly and at high speeds can have catastrophic consequences.

“Lucy Billingham’s death was completely avoidable, had Cracknell driven sensibly and within the speed limit on the night of this incident.

“My thoughts and those of my team are with her family and friends, as they continue to remember her and mourn their loss.”

A blood-covered man sits in a chair, speaking to police officers.
Cracknell spoke to police inside the pub he crashed in to
SWNS

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‘We’ve gone backwards’ fume Opposition over ‘preposterous’ proposal to resolve Dail speaking time as row rumbles on

OPPOSITION parties have written to the Taoiseach to criticise “flawed”, “preposterous” proposals to resolve a row over how speaking time should be allocated to government-affiliated independents.

It comes as a member of the Dail reform committee, which is attempting to resolve the issue, said they have “gone backwards” in trying to reach an agreement.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin and Tanaiste Simon Harris with newly appointed Irish Ministers of State.
PA
Opposition TDs suggested that there would be further disruption in the Dail next week[/caption]

Efforts to appoint a Taoiseach two weeks ago were delayed by a day after the opposition disrupted proceedings in protest over speaking time.

Of the nine independents supporting the Fianna Fail-Fine Gael government – seven from the Regional Independent Group and two Kerry brothers Michael and Danny Healy-Rae – five are ministers of state.

Four of the other independents want to be part of a technical group, which would give them Dail speaking slots during opposition time.

Opposition parties have argued this would dilute efforts to hold Government to account.

Despite talks being held this week to attempt to resolve the row before the Dail resumes next Wednesday, they broke up on Friday without agreement.

The opposition has sent a letter to Taoiseach Micheal Martin criticising the latest proposal, which suggests a “hybrid” technical group that allows members to either support Government or not.

The letter read: “Despite taking a week to bring forward this proposal, it is clear the Government’s position remains unchanged — granting special parliamentary privileges to a group that is not in opposition.

“This attempt to designate the Regional Independents as an ‘informal technical grouping of unaligned members/hybrid group’ and to manipulate speaking time to favour them is fundamentally flawed and must be abandoned.”

Speaking on the plinth as the meeting at Leinster House broke up, opposition TDs suggested that there would be further disruption in the Dail next week if current stances remain.

People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy said that “we have gone backwards”.

“The proposal they currently tabled is even worse than the proposal that they tabled last night. It is an opposition technical group called something different.”

He said that there was a need to reconvene party leaders for a meeting over the weekend before the Dail reform committee meets on Tuesday.

Asked what would happen when the Dail reconvenes if no progress is made, Mr Murphy said: “That much hasn’t been discussed, exactly what form that would take, but I would think certainly the mood music from the opposition is absolute opposition to what is being attempted and we need to discuss the details of what that looks like.

“But, let’s say they have a meeting of the Dail reform committee on Tuesday and vote this through by majority, that will not be acceptable to us and will be protested.”

Sinn Fein chief whip Padraig Mac Lochlainn said “we rule nothing out” in relation to what would happen on Wednesday, and said that “no self-respecting opposition could accept this”.

He added: “We want the Dail to sit… obviously in opposition, we want to do our job. But we can’t be taken for fools. This has to come to a sensible conclusion. I’m actually genuinely shocked that we’re still talking about this now over a week later.

“We waited a whole a week for the Government to present their draft solution and it was absolutely an insult to our intelligence what was given to us yesterday. We spent five-and-a-half hours and and there was nothing was conceded by Government, nothing, and here we are again today.”

Deputy leader of the Social Democrats, Cian O’Callaghan, said that Fianna Fail and Fine Gael need to stop “dancing to the tune of Michael Lowry”, the Tipperary TD who led the Regional Independents during government formation talks.

He added: “The entire proposal being put forward, where government backbench TDs would masquerade not just as members of the opposition, but the latest proposals we saw this week (they would) effectively be masquerading as leaders of the opposition, is utterly preposterous, totally unacceptable.

“It will never fly, not alone with opposition, I think with the general public as well, who have not been impressed by this carry-on, especially when there’s very serious issues facing the country that we should be all focusing on.”

A spokesperson for the Government, Chief Whip Mary Butler, said that the Government was “disappointed” that the opposition had chosen “to dismiss the proposal, while the Government remains open to positive engagement”.

She added: “Our Dail must be able to function, and we cannot have a repeat of the scenes in the chamber last week, and no individuals should be able to hold the Dail to ransom.

“The Government is focused on an orderly meeting of the Dail next week, to address the aftermath of Storm Eowyn and the business that the public expect all of our elected representatives to do.”

Earlier today, Mr Martin said there had been “simplistic utterances” on the issue, and that his Fianna Fail party had commissioned senior counsel opinion on the matter.

Asked whether he believe it will be resolved, Mr Martin said: “I would hope so. We will keep talking. We want to try and resolve this.

“Could I say at the outset, I think there’s been a lot of, I think, simplistic utterances about this entire situation.

“Our party has commissioned senior counsel opinion on this just to create a context because there’s a notion going around that opposition and government, you can’t be in either, that’s far too simplistic because go back to 1932 and from then onwards, people from opposition benches have been supporting different governments in different ways.

“For example, the confidence supply agreement between the Fianna Fail and Fine Gael from 2016 to 2020, if what Sinn Fein is saying and People Before Profit are saying that you can’t be in opposition and support government or be involved in discussions around the programme for government or budget, we would not have had confidence and supply.

“That programme for government was influenced by the main opposition party, the budgets were influenced by the two-to-one rule about two times expenditure versus tax relief.

“Into the future, we’ve got to be careful not to be overly prescriptive about what a Dail might do, or members of the Dail might do.”

Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy said in a statement: “A Dail that can reach consensus is ultimately better for democracy and becomes truly representative of the people’s wishes.

“It is regrettable that no consensus or agreement could be reached today. As Ceann Comhairle, I am committed to continuing with this process and to exhausting every possible avenue.

“The Committee has agreed to reconvene on February 4 at 12pm, having reflected over the weekend on today’s discussions.”

Verona Murphy, the new Ceann Comhairle, being applauded at the first sitting of the 34th Dail.
Mr Martin said there had been ‘simplistic utterances’ on the issue
Tony Maxwell

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‘It breaks the rules’ – Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn will NOT happen, says boxing legend dad

CHRIS EUBANK SR has again insisted that his son will NOT fight Conor Benn.

Earlier this month it was announced that the pair are set to do battle on April 26 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Chris Eubank.
YouTube
Chris Eubank has insisted that the controversial fight won’t happen[/caption]
Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn facing each other after a boxing match.
Getty
Eubank Jr and Conor Benn are scheduled to fight on April 26[/caption]

The match-up had initially been set for October 2022, only to be KO’d just days out after Benn failed two Voluntary Anti-Doping Association tests.

With UK Anti-Doping having lifted Benn’s ban last November, he is eligible to compete on home soil again.

The match-up naturally evokes memories of the 1990s rivalry between their fathers Chris Eubank Sr and Nigel Benn.

But the former refuses to throw his weight behind the nostalgic bout.

Speaking on his Call Chris Eubank YouTube channel, he said: “My answer is no, the fight will not happen. Not because of anything other than it breaks the rules.

“Rules is what we abide by. If we don’t abide by the rules then we are being reckless. We’re being reckless with what? With the lives of these fighters.

“Not just Conor Benn and Christopher Livingstone Eubank Jr, but with the lives of all participants of combat sports.

“Do not be distracted by re-hydration clauses.”

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Eubank Sr, 58, has long been unhappy with the catchweight bout.

Benn typically fights at welterweight, with a 147lbs limit.

Eubank Jr, meanwhile, is two divisions up at middleweight, for which the limit is 160lbs.

The fight is set to see Benn move up to middleweight, in contrast to the original 2022 bout which had been arranged for a 157lbs catchweight.

Speaking exclusively to SunSport, Eubank Sr said: “My son, if he had taken that fight where they tried to boil him down to 157, would have lost his life.”

The British boxing legend lost younger son Sebastian aged just 29 to a heart attack in 2023.

He continued: “I lost Sebastian. What do I say about losing another one? Nothing, I just pray.”

Eubank Sr then referenced American boxer Paul Bamba, who died aged 35 in December just six days after winning the WBA Gold Cruiserweight title by defeating Rogelio Medina, adding: “Paul said he gave himself brain damage by losing too much weight.

“He lost 22lbs in a matter of days. What the promoters are doing now is looking at the names and looking at the money.

“So, the names of the fathers Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank, they are looking at the names that draw an audience to a stadium or an arena.

“This is trampling the rules. They are running amok.

“It has become a world of ‘money first’. Like with the YouTube fighters, it’s the money they think about.

“And for the boxers, when they are headstrong, they are not thinking about safety. I know what it is like to get in there and to have lost all that weight.

“I know what it feels like when you are getting a hammering. It is dangerous. I know what it is like in training, when you are dehydrated.”

Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank boxing.
Getty
Eubank twice fought Nigel Benn in the 1990s[/caption]

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Китай планує закрити Панамський канал — Марко Рубіо

  0 Держсекретар США наполягає, що контроль США над каналом є в інтересах національної безпеки. Державний секретар США Марко Рубіо заявив, що Китай в разі виникнення конфлікту зі США планує заблокувати Панамський канал і що Вашингтон має намір вирішити проблему, яка є загрозою національній безпеці Сполучених Штатів. В інтерв’ю Sirius XM The Megyn Kelly Show […]

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