An uninsured drink-driver who was already banned from driving died at the wheel of a hired BMW with one of his four passengers after hitting a large puddle during an M1 motorway race up to 136mph.

Mohammed Rahman was racing with another BMW on their way back to the East End from a wedding when he ploughed into a concrete barrier, an inquest heard on Friday.

The 24-year-old carer and a father from Adelina Grove in Whitechapel hit a patch of water just after 2.30am on December 3, 2012, sending the high-performance BMW 5-series slamming into the central reservation, then careering across all three lanes and the hard shoulder before smashing into a concrete wall and rolling back onto the motorway.

Seconds later, the second BMW, a 7-series, hit the same barrier and ploughed into the first car.

Mr Rahman and a passenger in the back, Gulzar Ahmed, a 22-year-old student from Wickham Close, Whitechapel, died at the scene near Watford—neither were wearing seatbelts.

He had overtaken a lorry with the second BMW giving chase, the inquest in Hatfield was told.

Lorry driver Stuart Cosgrove said: “I saw one BMW accelerate hard and appear to chase the other. Both then went out of sight.” He came across the wrecked cars minutes later.

Onboard computer in the first BMW showed it had reached 136mph approaching the crash, forensic collision investigator Pc Ian Marsh told the hearing.

Both cars were caught on CCTV reaching 116mph before hitting the patch of water 11 seconds apart.

Motorist Abdul Nasir stopped at the scene and tried to help Mr Rahman, then dialed 999 after seeing the extent of his injuries.

Emergency services arrived, but both men were dead from multiple injuries, a post-mortem later revealed.

Toxicology tests showed Mr Rahman was over the legal drink limit for drivers, 123mg of alcohol per 100ml urine. The legal limit is 107mg.

He had three driving convictions, resulting in being banned, Pc Dave Clarke told the inquest.

The student who died was behind him on the offside, according to witness statements, with Rayhan Islam in the front passenger seat and behind him Imran Hoque, who had hired the car and was the insured driver.

Mr Hoque claimed he had driven all the way back from the wedding and had no recollection of how Mr Rahman came to be in the driver’s seat.

The other driver, Delwarul Islam, admitted dangerous driving when he appeared at St Alban’s Crown Crown Court after the crash and was disqualified and fined.

“No parents should have to bury their child,” Assistant Hertfordshire Coroner Alison Grief said. “It is a tragedy that two families have been affected.

“Two grown men made the decision to behave in this way on a road that was wet, driving at excessively high speeds.”

They died from injuries from the impact with the concrete barrier, the inquest ruled. High speed, lack of seatbelts and the patch of water causing aquaplaning had all contributed to the crash.

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