A TEENAGER who killed a man in a hit-and-run crash was yesterday jailed for five years as the victim's family told how the tragedy had "left a gaping hole" in their lives.

The driver of the stolen Range Rover can be identified for the first time after The Northern Echo challenged reporting restrictions which gave him anonymity.

He is 15-year-old Charlie Tyers and was on bail at the time of the 70mph smash which killed Douglas Robertson in Stokesley, North Yorkhire, in January.

At Teesside Crown Court, Judge John Walford said it was in the public interest for the youth to be identified, and told him: "You've ruined the lives of  (Mr Robertson's) family."

The court heard how Tyers took the high-powered 4x4 from a party in Stockton and had been seen showing off in it hours before the lunch-time tragedy in the snow.

Speeding in the 30mph zone on North Road, he lost control and ploughed through a lamppost which was flung into some trees 50ft away, said David Bradshaw prosecuting.

The vehicle struck pedestrian Mr Robertson, dragged him 340ft over waste ground, went through a small wall and tree and pinned him against the side of a building.

Footage from closed circuit televisions near the town centre showed the Range Rover streak past before a loud bang could be heard followed by anguished cries.

Tyers and his passenger, Sam Hanlon, 23, who both fled from the scene, wept uncontrollably in the dock and consoled each other as the video was played.

When he was later arrested and told somebody had been killed, the teenager told police: "You may as well smash me over the head now, kick me, gas me."

He added: "My life is over. I can't go back to my family. They will disown me. My life is over. I have killed somebody's baby. Please, Jesus, not this."

In a statement after the case, 27-year-old Mr Robertson's mother Jean North said: "It is impossible to find the words to describe just how much he meant to us.

"Douglas was a shy, kind, caring and intelligent person. He was a fantastic son who helped me both practically and emotionally, and a best friend to his sister Tracey.

"He had worked himself out, found his niche in life, and knew just what he wanted to achieve. To have him taken from us leaves a gaping hole in our lives that no sentence can overcome."

Judge Walford told Tyers: "You took his life in the most appalling circumstances. You are only 15, and this is one of the shocking features of this case.

"You must have taken it [the vehicle] out of pure devilment, arrogantly believing you could drive it appropriately when you neither had the experience or qualifications, and not caring what might happen.

"The road conditions were treacherous. The crash occurred when you drove at a grossly excessive speed. Those factors combined to make what happened almost inevitable.

"Because of your age, the law requires me to have regard to the principle aims of the youth justice system to prevent offending by children and young people, and also to have regard for your welfare - a ghastly irony when you had such little regard for the welfare of others that morning."

Peter Makepeace, mitigating, said Tyers, of High Lane, Maltby, Middlesbrough, has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder since the accident.

"This young 15-year-old boy does appear to have a very, very real understanding of the implications of his actions and of that tragedy and those circumstances.

"The punishment and the consequences will last far longer than any sentence this court can impose," Mr Makepeace told Judge Walford.

Hanlon, of Ferndale Close, Wingate, County Durham, admitted aggravate vehicle taking - allowing himself to be carried in the stolen Range Rover when it struck Mr Robertson.

He was given a 12-month community order after Judge Walford accepted he might have been so affected by the tragedy that he will never again get in trouble.

The court heard that he had only been in the vehicle for between five and ten minutes, but Judge Walford said he should have tried to stop Tyers  as he was older.

A third person, Delton O'Neill, 18, of Rowan Court, Catterick, North Yorkshire, also faces a charge of aggravated vehicle taking, but has not yet entered a plea.