Ghetts pleads guilty to causing death by dangerous driving

Ghetts has pleaded guilty to death by dangerous driving following a fatal crash in London.

The 41-year-old Mercury Prize nominee, real name is Justin Clarke-Samuel, allegedly failed to stop after hitting a 20 year-old man in Ilford on October 18 around 11:30pm (as per BBC News).

Today (Monday December 8), he appeared for a hearing at the Old Bailey via videolink from Pentonville prison. He pleaded guilty to driving dangerously in various parts of the city before the fatal collision.

This included incidents in Camden, Islington, Hackney, and the Bloomsbury area of central London.

Ghetts has been in custody since making a preliminary appearance on October 27 at Barkingside Magistrates’ Court. There, he was disqualified from driving with immediate effect, and the length for the ban has yet to be decided.

The rapper will be sentenced in February 2026. At the hearing today, Judge Mark Lucraft KC reportedly told him that “the only sentence to be passed is a custodial sentence” (as per Sky News).

Yubin Tamang, a 20-year-old student from Nepal died two days after being hit by Ghetts’ BMW M5 on Redbridge Lane East.

After news of his death, the victim’s family took to social media to call for justice. His father posted images to social media and wrote: “My little world, all I have left is tears in my hands.”

Tamang’s family members travelled to the UK for today’s hearing, and Sky News shares that they were sat in the court room as the pleas were made.

Ghetts was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize in 2021 for his third album 2021’s ‘Conflict Of Interest’, and received a second nod in 2024 ‘On Purpose With Purpose‘.

In 2021 he won the Best Male Act at the MOBO Awards, and in 2024 was the recipient for the the Mobo Pioneer Award – recognised for his significant contribution to British black culture. He also ventured into the acting world that year, taking on the role of Craig in the Netflix series Supacell.