A well-known British rapper has been handed a 12-year prison sentence after admitting he killed a 20-year-old university student while driving drunk at more than twice the legal speed limit through east London.
Justin Clarke-Samuel, known professionally as Ghetts, was sentenced at the Old Bailey following his guilty plea to causing death by dangerous driving and a further charge of dangerous driving. The 41-year-old, from Woodford Green, was also banned from driving for 17 years by Judge Mark Lucraft KC.
The victim, Yubin Tamang, had travelled from Nepal to study at a British university. He was crossing Redbridge Lane East in Ilford on the evening of 18 October 2025 when Clarke-Samuel’s BMW M5 struck him at speeds exceeding 60mph in a 30mph zone. Tamang was thrown into the air and sustained what prosecutors described as catastrophic injuries. He died in hospital two days later.
The court heard Clarke-Samuel had been drinking brandy at a restaurant before getting behind the wheel and was found to be one and a half times over the legal alcohol limit. In the minutes before the collision, he had failed to stop at six red traffic lights, repeatedly crossed onto the wrong side of the road, mounted the kerb, and struck both a motorcyclist and a Mercedes. CCTV footage capturing this sequence of events was shown in court, with Judge Lucraft describing it as a “quite appalling litany of incidents” that were “simply shocking.”
Clarke-Samuel did not stop after hitting Tamang and fled the scene. It was an Uber driver who first spotted the victim lying in the road and called emergency services. Police later traced a wing mirror casing found at the scene to Clarke-Samuel’s vehicle, which was recovered near his home with extensive damage to the windscreen, bonnet and front bumper.
In court, Clarke-Samuel claimed he had been driving erratically because he believed someone was following him. Investigators found no evidence in any of the CCTV footage to support that account.
Tamang’s family, in a statement read to the court, said their hearts were “broken beyond repair.” They described their son as their only child and said Clarke-Samuel had taken not just his future, but theirs as well, adding they could not forgive him for what he had done.
Clarke-Samuel’s legal team read out a letter of apology he had written, in which he expressed “extreme regret, shame and remorse” and described the crash as unintentional. The court was also told he had 12 previous convictions covering 27 offences dating back to the age of 16, including robbery, aggravated vehicle taking and prior driving offences.
The Crown Prosecution Service said Clarke-Samuel had known he was unfit to drive before getting into the car, and that his actions had shown a clear disregard for other road users. Clarke-Samuel will serve his sentence before becoming eligible for release consideration under standard custodial terms.
