Two men who filmed themselves speeding at 139mph in a 30mph zone while inhaling from balloons before crashing and killing the driver of another car have been sentenced to a total of 23 years in jail.

Uways Hussain, 20, and Usmon Mahmood, 23, had spent the night driving dangerously through Manchester before colliding with a vehicle being driven by Sylvester Abayomi.

Mr Abayomi, who was on his way to work at the time of the crash at just after 4.30am on March 9, had pulled out at a junction only to be hit at high speed after Hussain and Mahmood ran a red light.

Rachel Shenton, prosecuting, said the Golf had been driven 'at speed' through the light and Mahmood had 'chanted encouragement' to Hussain as he drove. 

Immediately after the collision, Greater Manchester Police received an alert from Hussain's Apple watch which detected he had been involved in a collision.

In audio from the alert the two men were heard discussing plans to flee the scene and attempting to decide what evidence they needed to remove from the vehicle.

Today they were jailed at Manchester Crown Court after pleading guilty to the charges against them. 

From 11pm the night before, Hussain and Mahmood had been driving recklessly around the south Manchester area.

The vehicle belonged to Mahmood, but was being driven by Hussain throughout the night at high-speed. Mobile phone footage recovered from the men showed them repeatedly reaching speeds of 130mph, running red lights and weaving through traffic.

At one stage the pair stopped at a petrol station, where footage shows Mahmood inhaling from a balloon while in the passenger seat.

Further footage recovered can see both men inhaling from balloons while Hussain is driving at over 100mph.

At approximately 4.36am, Mr Abayomi entered the junction of Green End Road and Kingsway on a green light.

He was then struck by a Volkswagen Golf driven by Hussain which had run a red light at high speed. At the point of impact, it is believed the car was travelling at 99mph.

Emergency services attended and Mr Abayomi was taken to hospital, where he later died.

Greater Manchester Police received several emergency calls to the crash and the automatic alert from the Apple watch.

The men were heard discussing plans to flee the scene and reporting the vehicle as stolen. The pair also discussed whether Mr Abayomi was dead, but booked an Uber and fled the scene without checking on him.

Police attended and within 12 minutes the pair had been located, caught and arrested.

When arrested by police, Hussain had to be tasered and told officers: 'None of us was even there. What's happened did somebody passed away?' 

In a victim impact statement, Mr Abayomi's partner of 20 years Denise Doyle said his death was a 'nightmare' and she felt she'd been 'left in a box and couldn't get out'.

She said he was 'hardworking', 'kind and dedicated' and 'full of life'.

'All of that was lost in single moment,' she added. 'Since that day my life has changed forever. The loss I feel is impossible to fully describe.

'It is not just grief it is a constant emptiness. Every day I wake up to the reality that he's gone.

'The life we were building has been taken away from me and the future we had planned no longer exists.'

His Honour Judge Dean, the Honorary Recorder of Manchester, sentenced Hussain to 11 years and eight months detention and Mahmood to 12 years and nine months in prison.

He said Mr Abayomi's death was 'wholly unnecessary' and 'entirely avoidable'.

Hussain, he said, had engaged in a 'sustained, deliberate, and escalating' and 'highly dangerous conduct over a sustained period'.

The judge described the video footage as 'terrifying' and said Hussain had shown a 'flagrant disregard for the safety of other road users' and undertaken 'deliberate risk-taking seemingly for the thrill of it'.

He said Mahmood's role had not been 'passive' and he'd 'encouraged and facilitated' Hussain's behaviour and his culpability was 'equal' to his co-defendant.

The pair had not attempted to assist the victim, he said, but had fled the scene following the crash and Mr Abayomi was killed by 'conduct that was appalling and entirely avoidable'.

Addressing Mr Abayomi's family, he added that no sentence he could impose could compensate for the impact of his death.

He also handed both men an eight-year driving ban.

Hussain, of Burnage, Manchester, earlier admitted a charge of causing death by dangerous driving and pleaded guilty today to a charge of causing death by dangerous driving while uninsured.

Mahmood, of Levenshulme, Manchester, earlier pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting causing death by dangerous driving and aiding and abetting causing death by driving while uninsured.

Neil Ronan, defending Hussain, who has a previous conviction in October 2024 for drug driving for which he was handed a 12-month driving ban, said he felt 'remorse' for his actions.

'He really regrets the outcome of him driving in that way,' Mr Ronan said, adding that 'fear and panic' had led to him leaving the scene.

Clare Ashcroft, defending Mahmood, said he was also remorseful and was 'not brought up to behave like that'.

She added that he'd not been driving and that's what 'differentiated' him from Hussain.

Detective Sergeant Thomas Johnson, from Greater Manchester Police's Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: 'This is one of the most extreme cases of dangerous driving we have encountered, and it has tragically resulted in the loss of Sylvester's life.

'Our thoughts remain with his family and friends at this incredibly difficult time.

'No sentence can ever truly compensate for the loss of a life, but the actions of Hussain and Mahmood show a complete disregard for the safety of others.

'We hope this outcome offers some measure of justice to Sylvester's loved ones. We urge the public to challenge dangerous driving behaviour and report concerns to police.'