BBC: Award-winning rapper Ghetts has been jailed for 12 years for killing a student in a hit-and-run collision in north-east London.
The 41-year-old, whose real name is Justin Clarke-Samuel, was sentenced at the Old Bailey after he previously admitted causing the death of 20-year-old Yubin Tamang by dangerous driving.
Tamang, a university student from Nepal, died in hospital two days after being struck by Clarke-Samuel’s car on Redbridge Lane East, Ilford, on the evening of 18 October 2025.
The court heard that Clarke-Samuel had been driving at more than 60mph in a 30mph zone when his BMW M5 hit Tamang as he crossed the road. He failed to stop at the scene.
Judge Mark Lucraft KC also disqualified Clarke-Samuel from driving for 17 years.
He said CCTV footage showed a “quite appalling litany of incidents” leading up to the fatal collision which were “simply shocking”.
Outlining the facts on Tuesday, prosecutor Philip McGhee said Clarke-Samuel had been drinking alcohol on the evening of the crash.
The rapper, from Woodford Green in east London, was said to be one and a half times over the legal limit.
The defendant initially said he had drunk three glasses of brandy with a meal at a restaurant.
The court was shown a compilation of CCTV of Clarke-Samuel’s erratic driving including footage of the moment he hit Tamang.
The defendant had claimed he had driven dangerously because he feared someone was following him but no evidence of a pursuit was found in the footage.
After the crash, an Uber driver saw what he initially thought was a “bundle of clothes in the road” and called 999 on realising Tamang was seriously injured, the court heard.
Police found a damaged wing mirror casing on the road and traced the serial number to Clarke-Samuel’s vehicle. Officers later located the car near his home, with significant damage to the windscreen, bonnet and front bumper.
In December, Clarke-Samuel pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to causing death by dangerous driving and an additional charge of dangerous driving.
In mitigation, Ben Aina KC read out extracts of a letter Clarke-Samuel had written apologising to Tamang’s family.
