‘Our lives shattered and hearts broken’ says family

Rebecca Caine, 20, from Birstall, Batley, died in a head-on collision on the motorway near Rochdale in the early hours of Sunday.

The University of Leeds business student and aspiring model, known as Becky, leaves behind her mother, Susan, and Susan’s partner Russell as well as father Tim and his wife Joanne.

She also had a twin brother, Jack, and a younger sister, Emma.

In a statement, the family said: “As you can imagine our lives are shattered and our hearts are broken into pieces.

“She was a beautiful girl with her whole life ahead of her. She was embarking on a modelling career and would be finishing her final year of her business degree at Leeds University.

“Rebecca was a bright light that attracted everything to her with her infectious laugh and her beaming smile.

“She saw the best in everyone and was loved by hundreds of friends. The worst part is the emptiness and the total waste of a beautiful life.

“She was our little girl, now she is our little angel. Something somewhere has failed us.”

An asylum seeker yesterday appeared at Bury Magistrates’ Court charged with causing Rebecca’s death by dangerous driving.

Wilfred Museka, 31, is alleged to have been driving a Renault Megane that was going the wrong way on the M62 when it hit a Chevrolet Matiz in which she was a passenger.

Museka, a Zimbabwean living in Manchester, is also accused of fraud by false representation, driving without a licence and driving without insurance.

Robin Lynch, prosecuting, told the court the defendant was an asylum seeker. Museka was remanded in custody to appear at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court on October 8.