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Labour peer jailed for text driving
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A Labour life peer who was sending text messages while driving before colliding with another car and killing a man has been sentenced to 12 weeks in jail. Skip related content
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Labour peer jailed for text driving
Lord Ahmed, 51, pleaded guilty to driving dangerously in the Christmas Day tragedy on the M1 near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, last year.
Lord Ahmed sent and received a series of five text messages while driving at 60mph in the dark along a 17-mile stretch of the motorway. His elderly mother and his wife were passengers in the car at the time.
Shortly afterwards he collided with an Audi which was stationary in the fast lane of the motorway after crashing into the central reservation.
Slovakian Martyn Gombar, 28, who was living in Leigh, Lancashire, died
Steve Smith, Lord Ahmed's solicitor, told an earlier hearing at Sheffield Magistrates Court that the peer, who suffered a very serious head injury in the crash, that nothing happened as a result of Lord Ahmed sending and receiving the text messages and stressed the fatal accident was unconnected.
He said: "This man is not responsible for any accident. What he is responsible for is stupidity. I say that because it is a word he has used himself."
The solicitor said that, despite being told otherwise, his client still felt responsible for Mr Gombar's death.
"He still walks within that shadow and I think he always will," he said.
Lord Ahmed, who has lived in Rotherham since childhood, has undertaken a number of high-profile roles, including negotiating with the president of Sudan to help secure the release of Liverpool teacher Gillian Gibbons.
In recent time two young women were jailed for 21 months and 3 years for texting prior to killing someone when driving how the hell can 12 weeks be right.