Banned BMW driver who killed his girlfriend in 136mph police chase crash while 14 times drug-drive limit is jailed for more than 12 years

A driver who was sentenced to fourteen times the drug limit when he killed his ‘beautiful’ girlfriend in a horrific 136mph crash has been jailed for more than 12 years.

Kane Farragher had taken a drug cocktail including cocaine and ketamine when he got behind the wheel of a high-powered BMW marked by police as a “vehicle of concern”.

Farragher, 24, refused to pull over and a police chase ensued, leading to him driving the wrong way on the A19 dual carriageway at eye-watering speeds before colliding head-on with another vehicle.

Farragher’s front seat passenger, sharpshooter Taylor Jenkins, 24, died at the scene near Sunderland in the early hours of March 1.

A male passenger in the back seat suffered a fractured skull and police said his injuries were ‘life-changing’.

The driver of the other vehicle was treated at the hospital, but his injuries were not serious.

Incredibly, Farragher emerged relatively unharmed but when he was detained at the scene he denied being in the vehicle and even tried to bribe the arresting officer with cash.

During his interview with police, he again denied being in the car at the time of the accident, telling officers: ‘If I had not been in the car when he died, I would not be sentenced to death for dangerous driving.’

What happened after the incident on March 1. Farragher was sentenced to 12 years and 9 months in prison with a 13-and-a-half year curfew

Farragher reached speeds of 86 mph during a police pursuit before crashing while the vehicle was traveling the wrong way on a dual carriageway

But on March 31, Farragher, of Birkenhead, Merseyside, finally admitted liability and pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, causing death by careless driving while over the limit for cocaine, cocaine breakdown product, MDMA, ketamine and cannabis, and causing death by driving while disqualified.

He also admitted causing serious injury to a backseat passenger by dangerous driving.

He was sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court today to 12 years and nine months in prison, with a 13-and-a-half year road ban.

Judge Penny Moreland said: ‘I want to stop and acknowledge the terrible loss you inflicted on Taylor Jenkins’ family and friends when you caused her death.

‘No sentence I give, nothing you can do, can undo the terrible damage you did that night.’

He said Farragher ‘undertook the most dangerous driving a person could imagine for a long time’ before the fatal crash.

In victim impact statements, Ms Jenkins’ heartbroken family spoke of her passion for show jumping and aesthetics and the pain of her loss when she had so much to live for.

They said she was ‘beautiful, smart, hard-working, loyal and ambitious’ and someone who brought ‘warmth and light’ wherever she went.

They also expressed the pain of ‘having to relive the moment of losing it every day’ when they ‘see a similar car’, ‘driving on the highway at night’ and ‘having an accident’.

His father described the devastating loss of ‘my bum, my baby, my light’ and said he was left in ‘suffocating agony’.

He added: ‘The silence he leaves behind is overwhelming. I pity her laughter, her beautiful, cheeky smile.’

The court heard Farragher, Jenkins, from Edinburgh, said the second passenger was at an event in Newcastle when the BMW was flagged as a ‘vehicle of interest’ by Police Scotland and Northumbria Police attempted to pull him over to speak to the driver.

When Farragher was drug tested following his arrest, the results showed Farragher’s level of BZE, the breakdown product of cocaine, was 791. The limit was 50.

The court also heard he was 12 times over the limit for MDMA, more than twice the limit for ketamine and 40 per cent over the limit for cannabis.

Farragher has 15 convictions for offenses including driving and drugs offenses in Liverpool and Scotland.

The court stated that he had a troubled childhood, was traumatized and regretted his actions.

When he was around 16 he moved to Scotland where he met Ms Jenkins, the court heard.

Sergeant Dave Roberts, of Northumbria Police, said: ‘Taylor was a young woman aged only 24; He had his whole life ahead of him and it was cruelly taken away from him by a reckless person.

‘Thanks to the overwhelming evidence in this case, Farragher had no choice but to plead guilty in court, despite initially denying being in the car or driving it.

He even went so far as to shamelessly offer money to the police officer who detained him in a ridiculous attempt to get out of the situation.

‘As a banned driver, he should never have been behind the wheel that night – and the cocktail of drugs found in his system following the crash was truly shocking.’

Northumbria Police contacted police watchdog IOPC following the crash and an investigation is ongoing.