A Telford man was today starting a 16-month jail sentence for causing the death of his 14-year-old sister by dangerous driving.

A family baptism turned to tragedy when teenager Jasmeet Kaur died after her taxi driver brother Kandjit Singh fell asleep at the wheel, Reading Crown Court heard yesterday.

Jasmeet Kaur

Cab driver Singh crashed his Vauxhall Zafira into the back of an articulated lorry at about 90mph as they headed back on the M4 motorway in Berkshire to their home in Telford, the court was told.

Singh, 24, who lived with his sister in Glendinning Way, Madeley, had admitted causing her death by dangerous driving at 6.20am on August 2 last year.

He was jailed despite his orthodox Sikh family urging the judge to be lenient because they had forgiven him.

The court heard how graduate Singh had been baptised in Southall, London, alongside his sister, just hours before the tragedy, which happened between Junctions 13 and 14.

Karen Maxwell-Burnside, prosecuting, told the court: “The lorry was travelling at between 55 and 56mph in lane one of the motorway.

“The driver experienced some impact with the rear and he pulled the vehicle onto the hard shoulder. The Vauxhall Zafira was effectively lodged into the back of the lorry.”

She said a passing nurse stopped and tried to administer life-saving treatment as paramedics rushed to the scene but rear seat passenger Jasmeet was pronounced dead at the roadside.

Singh, who now works as an auditor, nodded off to sleep and crashed into the lorry at between 83mph and 101mph, the court heard.

Gundeep Garcha, for Singh, said jailing his remorseful client would have a second devastating impact on the tight-knit family.

He said: “For the whole family it is a totally distressing experience and this is a doubly tragic case. My client will forever have to live with the tragic consequences of that day.”

Judge Stephen John, who also banned Singh from driving for two years, told him: “By your actions that day, you deprived a loving family of their daughter, your own sister aged only 14.

“Nothing I can do will lessen their grief.”

By Simon Hardy