Boy, 15, held as three die in van crash horror

A SCHOOLBOY of 15 has been arrested after allegedly driving a stolen van the wrong way on to a motorway and smashing into a taxi – killing three men.

Cab driver Sohail Ali, 28, and his passenger Simon McHugh, 49, were both killed at the scene of the crash on the M606 near Bradford. Eighteen-year-old Kyden Leadbeater, who was travelling in the van, died in hospital several hours later.

The van driver, who has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, was also taken to hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries. Officers began chasing the Ford Transit van, which was suspected of being stolen, after it failed to stop for a marked police car on Monday night. It then drove the wrong way round a roundabout before heading into oncoming traffic.

West Yorkshire Police said it had referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct over the crash. However an IOPC spokesman said that, although an investigation is ongoing, early inquiries suggest ‘police did not follow the van the wrong way on to the motorway’.