Ghetts hit-and-run case widens with new dangerous driving charges

Rapper and Netflix actor Justin Clarke-Samuel, 41, known professionally as Ghetts, appeared at the Old Bailey via videolink from HMP Pentonville as prosecutors confirmed he now faces a significantly expanded set of allegations arising from the fatal collision that killed 20-year-old student Yubin Tamang in Ilford on 18 October.

The court heard that Clarke-Samuel, of King’s Avenue, Woodford, east London, date of birth 09/10/1984, was originally charged with causing death by dangerous driving after his black BMW allegedly struck Mr Tamang on Redbridge Lane at around 11.33pm before failing to stop.

He is now additionally accused of two further counts of dangerous driving—one relating to alleged high-risk manoeuvres in Tavistock Place and other roads in Camden earlier that same evening, and another involving alleged dangerous driving in Worcester Crescent, Redbridge, immediately after the collision as he returned to his east London address.

Police officers attended the Woodford property in the early hours of 19 October. A significantly damaged BMW, said to be registered and insured in the defendant’s name, was located at the scene. Clarke-Samuel spoke only to confirm his identity during today’s brief administrative hearing, which took place in full view of members of Mr Tamang’s family who had travelled from Nepal.

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Judge Nigel Lickley KC adjourned the case and directed that pleas must be entered at the next listing on 8 December, granting permission for Clarke-Samuel to appear again by videolink. He was remanded in custody.

Mr Tamang, an only child, had been sent to London to study at the University of Roehampton and was described by friends as a dedicated student and a keen hip-hop fan. Photographs posted online by his father showed his childhood in Nepal, while a close friend who lived with him in east London told UK Courts Live he was “a very good person”.

Clarke-Samuel, who first appeared at Stratford Magistrates’ Court on 20 October on an initial charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving—an allegation upgraded after Mr Tamang’s death—has been a prominent figure in British grime music for more than a decade.

He has collaborated with Skepta, Stormzy and Ed Sheeran, toured internationally with Kano, and amassed millions of streams on Spotify with tracks such as One Take, Skengman and IC3. He won Best Male Act at the Mobo Awards in 2021 and received the Mobo Pioneer Award in 2023. More recently, he co-starred in the Netflix superhero drama Supacell.