A YOUNG drug driver in an uninsured car - who panicked when he saw police were following him - ended up killing one of his close friends in a horror crash.

Jahed Islam, 25, was driving at nearly two-and-a-half times the speed limit, along Colne Road in Burnley, when he clipped a taxi and his Mazda car struck a building near the junction with Hebrew Road, Preston Crown Court was told.

His front-seat passenger, Yasir Khan, 23, suffered “catastrophic” chest injuries and was killed in the collision, the court heard.

And the rear seat passenger, Sajjad Bhatti was left with a broken sternum, fractures to his legs, a collapsed lung and had his back broken in four places.

Today Islam, of Burns Street, Burnley, is beginning a jail sentence totalling 11 years and nine months as a consequence of that driving.

Jailing him, Judge David Potter said: “Your decision to drive dangerously cut short, in the most tragic of circumstances, the life of a promising, well-loved and well-liked member of the community.

Earlier the victim’s mother Mariam, who had only lost her husband to cancer 10 weeks before the tragedy, said she was devastated by the fact “some acting irresponsibly” had cost her “beautiful boy” his life.

Prosecutor Peter Warne said a police officer was first alerted when he saw Islam’s Mazda turning out of Curzon Street, onto Active Way, Burnley, in the early hours of a September morning last year.

The officer illuminated his blue lights and siren but Islam’s car sped away and the policeman judged it was too dangerous to continue. He estimated the car was hitting speeds of between 80 and 90mph along the 30mph limit route. CCTV clips played in court showed his car attempting to overtake a white Skoda taxi.

But Mr Warne said the Mazda caught the cab “a glancing blow” and Islam lost control, swerving and hitting a nearby building. Later he was found to be 20 times the legal cannabis limit for driving.

Ayaz Qasi, defending, said his client was genuinely remorseful for the loss of his close friend.

Jahed Islam admitted to causing the death of Mr Hamin by dangerous driving, causing serious injury to Mr Mr Bhatti and having no insurance at an earlier hearing.

Islam was also convicted of causing GBH to Salim Baksh and assaulting Abdul Malik Hamin in a separate incident. His younger brother Shamsul Islam, 22, also of Burns Street, was convicted of the GBH offence and jailed for five years.