Rapper Ghetts pleads guilty to causing death by dangerous driving | Ents & Arts News

Rapper Ghetts has pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving in a hit-and-run crash.

The 41-year-old also pleaded guilty to driving dangerously in areas of London before the fatal collision, which happened in Ilford, northeast London, shortly after 11.30pm on 18 October.

Yubin Tamang, 20, a student from Nepal, died two days after being hit by the rapper’s BMW M5 in Redbridge Lane.

Police said Ghetts was driving in excess of 60mph in a 30mph zone, and hit Mr Tamang as he was crossing the road. He then failed to stop at the scene.

On Monday, the grime artist, whose real name is Justin Clarke-Samuel, appeared for a hearing at the Old Bailey via videolink from Pentonville prison, wearing a green polo shirt.

He pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and to driving dangerously in Tavistock Place, in the Bloomsbury area of central London, and on other roads in Camden, Islington and Hackney before the crash.

Mr Tamang’s family, who had travelled to the UK, watched in court as the pleas were made. He was an only child who had been sent to complete his studies, the court heard.

Clarke-Samuel, a two-time Mercury Prize nominee and MOBO winner, has been in custody since a preliminary appearance at Barkingside Magistrates’ Court on 27 October.

He will be sentenced in February. Judge Mark Lucraft KC told him “the only sentence to be passed is a custodial sentence”, but the length of his jail term is yet to be determined.

He was disqualified from driving with immediate effect – with the length of the ban also still to be set.

Speaking after the hearing on Monday, Detective Inspector Mark Braithwaite, of the Met’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said that while nothing could undo the loss felt by Mr Tamang’s family, the guilty pleas marked “a step towards justice”.

He added: “Split-second decisions behind the wheel can have devastating, life-changing consequences.”

The Met Police said Clarke-Samuel’s BMW was found by officers in the early hours of the day following the collision, parned near his home in Woodford. The car “displayed significant damage, including a smashed windscreen, extensive marks on the bonnet, damage to the front bumper and a missing wing mirror cover”, the force said.

On Thursday 4 December, Clarke-Samuel was further charged with causing death by careless driving while over the alcohol limit. He did not enter pleas this charge, nor a second count of dangerous driving following the incident, the force said.

The rapper was first nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2021, for his third album, Conflict Of Interest. His second nomination came for his fourth album, On Purpose, With Purpose, in 2024.

He was named best male artist at the MOBOs in 2021, and received the pioneer award for his contribution to British black culture in 2024.

Earlier this year, he was nominated for two Ivor Novello awards – for best album and best contemporary song.

He also had a role in the Netflix drama Supacell.