Drug driver who killed passenger after losing control of car during jealous rage is jailed

A drug driver killed his passenger in a crash after losing control of his car during a jealous rage because another man looked at her Instagram page.

Terry Lee Majors, 40, sped along a busy road in Brighton in his Ford Fiesta and veered off into trees - killing Cheryl Brookes, 35, who was sitting next to him.

Majors was high on cannabis when he hit speeds of around 100mph after losing his temper at seeing another man look at Ms Brooke's social media page, police said.

The pair had been on a night away in July 2021 and were returning home when Majors started acting and driving erratically.

At Lewes Crown Court on 19 April, he pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and was jailed for three years and eight months.

Majors, of St Leonards, East Sussex, was also disqualified from driving for five-and-a-half years.

During a call to relatives, Majors was heard abusing Cheryl so much she told her family: “He’s driving like a lunatic. He is doing 100mph and is scaring me.”

Majors appeared to try and overtake another vehicle, lost control, then crashed into a steep bank on the A27 in Pevensey, East Sussex.

Text messages Cheryl sent to a friend revealed how Majors became “jealous” and “paranoid” before he left Brighton in a rage.

Witnesses described Majors' "erratic and dangerous" driving between leaving the hotel and the crash - including overtaking and undertaking other vehicles at high speeds.

Ms Brookes - a mother-of-two and a grandmother from Bexhill, East Sussex - was declared dead at the scene.

Majors was injured in the smash and taken to hospital, where a blood test revealed he was over the legal limit for marijuana, police said.

At the time of her death, Ms Brooke's family described her as a “kind-hearted, caring and loving person, always there for people and always putting others before herself”.

In a statement read to the court, her brother William Brookes, 38, of Eastbourne, East Sussex, said: “Cheryl was the life and soul of every party, she was the glue that held us all together.

“Her children are devastated and her grandchildren will grow up without knowing their grandmother.”

PC Dave Symonds from Sussex Police's Serious Collision Investigation Unit, added on Friday: “It is never just a crash, especially for those left picking up the pieces.

“Majors has caused the events that led to the death of Cheryl Brookes, which could have been easily avoided.”