Motorway deaths: Driver jailed after speeding towards oncoming traffic in stolen van killing two people on M25

Footage captures the moment a "selfish" driver - with a revoked licence - sped the wrong way down the M25 in a stolen van, killing two people. Barancan Nurcin, 22, was caught on camera as he drove the wrong way down the busy motorway without a license in a stolen vehicle. The video explains why Nurcin has been handed an 18 year prison sentence-- the longest sentence ever imposed for death by dangerous driving.

At around 3.40am on February 4 police were alerted to a white Citroen Dispatch van which had been reported as stolen. They found the stolen van on the M1 travelling southbound, where it failed to stop and a police pursuit was authorised. A few minutes later, the van dangerously took an emergency access road off the main carriageway, heading back on the motorway – this time travelling towards oncoming traffic. This is all shown in the video.

The van was then spotted by officers in Breakspear Way, Hemel Hempstead, where it again failed to stop for officers. A short time later the van was seen by police travelling on the wrong side of the M25. At around 4:08 am the van collided with a silver DFSK 580 Glory, and tragically passenger Zoe Hawes died at the scene.

Chief Inspector Steve O’Keeffe, from the RPU, says in the video that Mrs Hawes, 39, from Essex, had been travelling to Luton Airport to go on holiday for her 40th birthday with her husband when she was killed.

Two other vehicles - a silver Skoda Superb and a black Peugeot 5008 – collided with debris, causing five people to sustain injuries. Nurcin made off from the scene, leaving behind his friend Fahad Dek, 23, who was deceased in the passenger seat. It quickly emerged that his driving license had already been revoked-- after an incident in 2021 where he was caught driving on cannabis.

On Tuesday 26 March, Nurcin, from Tottenham, pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death by dangerous driving, causing death whilst unlicensed, causing death whilst uninsured and four of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. He was sentenced, on 21 June, at St Albans Crown Court to 18 years in prison. Chief Inspector O’Keeffe added: “I hope today’s result goes some way in easing the pain of all those affected by the utterly selfish and dangerous actions of Nurcin.”