London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Nov 30, 2025

Learner driver who killed woman and swapped seats with boyfriend is jailed

Learner driver who killed woman and swapped seats with boyfriend is jailed

A learner driver killed a woman in a hit-and-run while ‘showing off’ to her boyfriend, who then drove the car away and helped cover her tracks.

Kennedy Lucas lost control after accidentally accelerating instead of braking and crashed into Krystal Hamilton, 20, who was walking home from the shops.

She also careened across a nearby grass verge in a complete circle and smashed into a wall, causing an estimated £11,000 of damage.

CCTV footage shows the couple swapping seats less than 10 seconds after the impact before Lucas’s boyfriend Vinny Guess drives off leaving the 24-year-old at the scene.

Lucas then tried to flag someone down, who happened to know Ms Hamilton, and told them there had been a ‘hit and run’, Northampton Crown Court heard.

She told concerned neighbours who had gathered at the scene she would be ‘back in two minutes’ and left without returning.

Within two hours police arrived at the couple’s home to ask about the damaged Volkswagen Passat in front of their house.


Northampton Crown Court jailed the couple and disqualified Lucas from driving for 18 months


But Lucas hid her car keys and told the officers she did not know anything about the accident and that ‘people park there all the time’.

During this time Krystal had been rushed to the University Hospital Coventry with a severe head injury.

The next day Lucas and Guess saw a Facebook post asking about the ‘girl at the scene who saw everything and left’ that people were ‘looking for’.

They turned themselves in that morning, 12 hours crashing into Ms Hamilton, who died 10 days later in hospital with her mother beside her.

Lucus, from Luton, Bedfordshire, admitted to causing death by careless driving and perverting the course of justice on February 6.

Yesterday she was jailed for 30 months and disqualified from driving 18 months.

Guess, from Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire, pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice and was jailed for 20 months.

Lucas later told police in interview: ‘I just wanted to have a little play around. But playing around has consequences.’

Judge Rupert Mayo said: ‘It is as serious as it gets. It involves staying by the person fighting for her life and doing nothing. It was devious.

‘Rather than attending the scene and making sure that person in the road had emergency assistance and accepting the blame, she stayed at the scene and acted what was described as rather coolly.

‘She strongly implied she wasn’t responsible and it was a hit and run driver.

‘Nothing I say in the sentencing I pass can bring Krystal back. Her family rather understandably are devastated and feel Krystal has been stolen from them.

‘They are perfectly entitled to those views. The scars will take a lifetime to heal. Her life was without value – it was priceless.

‘The only reason that I can define for [Lucas] driving the car is that she wanted to show off to her partner.’

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
250 Still Missing in the Massive Fire, 94 Killed. One Day After the Disaster: Survivor Rescued on the 16th Floor
Trump: National Guard Soldier Who Was Shot in Washington Has Died; Second Soldier Fighting for His Life
UK Chancellor Reeves Defends Tax Rises as Essential to Reduce Child Poverty and Stabilise Public Finances
No Evidence Found for Claim That UK Schools Are Shifting to Teaching American English
European Powers Urge Israel to Halt West Bank Settler Violence Amid Surge in Attacks
"I Would Have Given Her a Kidney": She Lent Bezos’s Ex-Wife $1,000 — and Received Millions in Return
European States Approve First-ever Military-Grade Surveillance Network via ESA
UK to Slash Key Pension Tax Perk, Targeting High Earners Under New Budget
UK Government Announces £150 Annual Cut to Household Energy Bills Through Levy Reforms
UK Court Hears Challenge to Ban on Palestine Action as Critics Decry Heavy-Handed Measures
Investors Rush Into UK Gilts and Sterling After Budget Eases Fiscal Concerns
UK to Raise Online Betting Taxes by £1.1 Billion Under New Budget — Firms Warn of Fallout
Lamine Yamal? The ‘Heir to Messi’ Lost to Barcelona — and the Kingdom Is in a Frenzy
Warner Music Group Drops Suit Against Suno, Launches Licensed AI-Music Deal
HP to Cut up to 6,000 Jobs Globally as It Ramps Up AI Integration
MediaWorld Sold iPad Air for €15 — Then Asked Customers to Return Them or Pay More
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer Promises ‘Full-Time’ Education for All Children as School Attendance Slips
UK Extends Sugar Tax to Sweetened Milkshakes and Lattes in 2028 Health Push
UK Government Backs £49 Billion Plan for Heathrow Third Runway and Expansion
UK Gambling Firms Report £1bn Surge in Annual Profits as Pressure Mounts for Higher Betting Taxes
UK Shares Advance Ahead of Budget as Financials and Consumer Staples Lead Gains
Domino’s UK CEO Andrew Rennie Steps Down Amid Strategic Reset
UK Economy Stalls as Reeves Faces First Budget Test
UK Economy’s Weak Start Adds Pressure on Prime Minister Starmer
UK Government Acknowledges Billionaire Exodus Amid Tax Rise Concerns
UK Budget 2025: Markets Brace as Chancellor Faces Fiscal Tightrope
UK Unveils Strategic Plan to Secure Critical Mineral Supply Chains
UK Taskforce Calls for Radical Reset of Nuclear Regulation to Cut Costs and Accelerate Build
UK Government Launches Consultation on Major Overhaul of Settlement Rules
Google Struggles to Meet AI Demand as Infrastructure, Energy and Supply-Chain Gaps Deepen
Car Parts Leader Warns Europe Faces Heavy Job Losses in ‘Darwinian’ Auto Shake-Out
Arsenal Move Six Points Clear After Eze’s Historic Hat-Trick in Derby Rout
Wealthy New Yorkers Weigh Second Homes as the ‘Mamdani Effect’ Ripples Through Luxury Markets
Families Accuse OpenAI of Enabling ‘AI-Driven Delusions’ After Multiple Suicides
UK Unveils Critical-Minerals Strategy to Break China Supply-Chain Grip
Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” Extends U.K. No. 1 Run to Five Weeks
UK VPN Sign-Ups Surge by Over 1,400 % as Age-Verification Law Takes Effect
Former MEP Nathan Gill Jailed for Over Ten Years After Taking Pro-Russia Bribes
Majority of UK Entrepreneurs Regard Government as ‘Anti-Business’, Survey Shows
UK’s Starmer and US President Trump Align as Geneva Talks Probe Ukraine Peace Plan
UK Prime Minister Signals Former Prince Andrew Should Testify to US Epstein Inquiry
Royal Navy Deploys HMS Severn to Shadow Russian Corvette and Tanker Off UK Coast
China’s Wedding Boom: Nightclubs, Mountains and a Demographic Reset
Fugees Founding Member Pras Michel Sentenced to 14 Years in High-Profile US Foreign Influence Case
WhatsApp’s Unexpected Rise Reshapes American Messaging Habits
United States: Judge Dressed Up as Elvis During Hearings – and Was Forced to Resign
Johnson Blasts ‘Incoherent’ Covid Inquiry Findings Amid Report’s Harsh Critique of His Government
Lord Rothermere Secures £500 Million Deal to Acquire Telegraph Titles
Maduro Tightens Security Measures as U.S. Strike Threat Intensifies
U.S. Envoys Deliver Ultimatum to Ukraine: Sign Peace Deal by Thursday or Risk Losing American Support
×