Driver who killed two in car accident was doing 112mph in a 30mph zone

Appleby had spent two hours at a lap-dancing club before speeding in his late father's Jaguar XK8 sports car and causing the head-on crash.

A court heard he had been travelling between 83mph and 91mph for a mile before the collision, reaching a top speed of 112mph before crashing into a taxi.

The 25-year-old was not wearing a seat belt when he hit the car, killing taxi driver Tahlat Mahmood, 30, and his passenger Lee Till, 29. Both men had been married recently.

Mr Till's best friend, David Booth, was saved by an airbag in the front passenger seat but is still receiving treatment for internal injuries suffered in the crash last May.

The collision happened after Appleby, of Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, had tried to overtake a bus in the Fenton area of the city.

Robert Price, prosecuting, said: "The bus driver said the car came from behind his vehicle at an unbelievable speed and hit the taxi head on, on the wrong side of the road.

"He [Appleby] was trying to find an impossible gap to overtake and the taxi driver didn't have one second to react."

Appleby, who runs a garage business, walked away from the crash despite a broken ankle, broken wrist and fractured rib.

Mr Mahmood, from Normacot, Stoke-on-Trent, died at the scene. Mr Till, who had been married nine months earlier at the church that held his funeral, died at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard Appleby was arrested at a friend's house and was found with 133mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood. The legal limit is 80mg.

He was jailed for nine years for two counts of causing death by dangerous driving, two counts of causing death while uninsured, drink-driving and failing to stop at the scene.

It also emerged Appleby had been fined £100 in October for driving to his first court hearing without insurance.

Sentencing, Judge Paul Glenn said: "Your driving was appalling and you treated the road like a racetrack.

"Two people lost their lives because of what you did and no sentence this court can impose can begin to make up for the tragic loss their families have suffered."

Mr Till's widow Yasmin, 29, said the Jaguar car had been a "blur" on CCTV because it was travelling so quickly.

Mrs Till, from Sandford Hill, Stoke-on-Trent, told the Daily Mail: "You could not make out it was a car, he was going so fast. It was just a flash, like a bullet.

"I saw Appleby at court the first time he was up and he had a big grin on his face.

"I don't think he's shown any real remorse, but I'm glad that even though the sentence isn't anywhere near long enough, he didn't get away with it."