A NORTH-EAST criminal was back behind bars last night almost a decade after he killed two schoolgirls and maimed a third while driving a high performance car.

Robert Hoe caused outrage when his car ploughed into a group of children as they returned from a sweet shop, in the South Bank area of Middlesbrough, at Easter 1993.

Sisters Maria and Rachel Reed, aged six and eight, died instantly, holding each other's hands, when Hoe's Ford Escort XR3 crushed them against a wall. Their friend, Leigh-Ann Johns, nine, suffered horrific injuries and had both legs amputated.

Yesterday, Hoe was back before Teesside Crown Court to plead guilty to one count of robbery, two counts of theft and one count of wounding.

Defence barrister Alan Taylor said Hoe was very aware of what was going to happen to him, but asked for pre-sentence and psychiatric reports to be prepared, "given his troubles".

Judge Les Spittle agreed reports should be prepared but told Hoe, of Nightingale Road, Eston, near Middlesbrough, he was facing a custodial sentence. He remanded Hoe in custody.

"That is the almost certain sentence," he said.

Hoe was 19 when he lost control of his car and killed the Reed girls. He was driving without insurance or a driving licence. He was later found to be more than twice the drink-drive limit.

Hoe pleaded guilty to two charges of dangerous driving but was locked up for just four years and banned from driving for six.

The case, and the sentence, provoked horror among the Teesside community, and within the year a petition calling for stiffer penalties for those causing death on the roads and been signed by 100,000 people.

The plight of Leigh-Ann moved the region and money poured in to a fund, backed by celebrities from the world of sport, politics and entertainment, to build her a specially-equipped bungalow.

In the face of public outrage, Hoe dropped his appeal against sentence, but there was renewed outrage when he was released after serving just two years and nine months of the sentence.

Seven months later, in 1997, Hoe was back behind bars after he lost his temper in a row with friend, Leslie Ryder.

Hoe cut Mr Ryder's forearm to the bone with tree-pruning shears and then robbed him. He was jailed for four years after admitting robbery and wounding with intent.

On his release, Hoe found himself on the receiving end of violence when he was attacked repeatedly stabbed in a darkened alleyway in the South Bank area.

Police said there was no evidence it was a revenge attack.