A HIT-AND-RUN driver was last night beginning a seven- year jail sentence after killing an 86-year-old grandmother and seriously injuring two of her family.

Dominic Gavin Huggett, 34, went on the run from police for eight days following the crash, which led to the death of mother-of-12 Betty Cooper.

Mrs Cooper's son, Barry, and his wife, Patricia, were left with severe leg and abdominal injuries which medics described as some of the worst they had seen.

Huggett had ploughed into the trio in his BMW car in Westbury Street, Thornaby, Teesside, as they left a celebration for a 30th wedding anniversary in the early hours of June 8 last year.

David Brooke, prosecuting, told Teesside Crown Court that Mrs Cooper was being helped into a taxi by her son and daughter-in-law when Huggett accelerated towards them over speed bumps.

Witnesses described them being "flung like skittles" on impact with Huggett estimated to be travelling at speeds of at least 50mph in a 20mph zone. He sped off, jumping a set of red lights and increasing his speed to about 67mph.

Mrs Cooper died later in hospital, while Barry Cooper required life-saving surgery.

Huggett, of Dishforth Close, Thornaby, who pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, failing to stop and report an accident, having no license nor insurance, had been captured on closed- circuit televisoin cameras earlier in the evening drinking with friends in Stockton.

Police linked him to the BMW partly through the amount of debris the accident left on the road. But he went into hiding while police issued an appeal for him to come forward. The car was never recovered.

When he was eventually arrested he denied getting rid of the car to avoid detection and claimed he had been driving at normal speed at the time of the accident.

Adrian Dent, defending, said Huggett, a steel erector and part-time car dealer, had apologised profusely for what had happened.

Huggett claimed he had been dazzled by the lights of the taxi that Mrs Cooper was getting into, but should have seen the three people.

Huggett, who had spent a month in jail for dangerous driving in 1996 and had convictions for theft and dishonesty, had deliberately driven dangerously with devastating effects, said the Recorder of Middlesbrough Judge Peter Fox.

He said that once Huggett had served his jail sentence he would be subject to three years' prison licence and he was also disqualified from driving for ten years.