Muslim Labour peer faces death crash charge after allegedly sending text message while driving on M1

Labour peer Lord Ahmed could face charges over a text message allegedly sent from his mobile phone shortly before a motorway crash in which a man died.

He was driving his Jaguar X-type on the M1 on Christmas Day when he hit a car which had spun out of control and had come to rest in the fast lane facing the wrong way.

The 50-year-old peer was badly shaken and suffered cuts and bruises in the accident, His wife Sakina, 49, and his mother, who is in her mid-eighties, also suffered minor injuries.

Martyn Gombar, the 28-year-old Slovakian driver of the other car, was killed instantly.

A routine police investigation has focused on the use of Lord Ahmed's mobile phone in the minutes before the peer used it to call the emergency services.

A text was allegedly sent to a journalist friend during this period. Police have been trying to establish the circumstances in which it was sent and by whom.

Motorists who text while at the wheel face being charged with causing death by dangerous driving if using the mobile is believed to play a part in an accident in which someone is killed. The maximum sentence is 14 years.

Yesterday Lord Ahmed denied committing such an offence. He said: "I would strenuously deny any allegation of death by dangerous driving. Other than that, I cannot comment."

South Yorkshire Police has prepared a file on the case which will shortly be sent to the Crown Prosecution Service to consider.

A police source said: "Evidence relating to his mobile phone indicates that it was used to send a text message two or three minutes before a 999 call was made from the same phone to report the fatal accident.

"Inquiries were made with the recipient of the text message and Lord Ahmed was interviewed about the circumstances of the text. It will be a matter for lawyers at the CPS to evaluate the strength of the evidence before deciding what charges, if any, can be made."

The stretch of the M1 where the fatal crash took place (library picture)

The CPS could decide there is no blame to be attached to Lord Ahmed.

Police have established that Mr Gombar's Audi A4 hit the central barrier and stopped in the fast lane near to Junction 35 at Rotherham at 6.20pm on Christmas Day.

Mr Gombar managed to reach the hard shoulder, but police believe he then tried to dodge fast-moving traffic to get back to his car to retrieve his mobile phone.

Lord Ahmed's car is believed to have hit the car and driver.

Mr Gombar, who had been living in the Leigh area of Lancashire, was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital. His 30-year-old passenger, also a Slovakian, was questioned by police.