A DRIVER admitted yesterday causing the death of his friend after driving him home while almost three times over the drink-drive limit.

James Hardman, 30, suffered cuts and bruises in the smash last July when his Vauxhall Cavalier crashed head-on with a Vauxhall Zafira, on the B8313 between Craghead and Grange Villa, near Stanley, County Durham.

But his friend, front seat passenger Graham Johnson, 32, was killed.

Hardman, of Poplar Street, South Moor, Stanley, was close to tears as he entered a guilty plea to causing death by careless driving while over the legal limit at Newcastle Crown Court.

Mr Johnson, described by his loving family as a "gentle giant", had been out with friends in Craghead and had arranged to have a lift home to Pelton Fell.

But when his lift was delayed, he accepted an offer from Hardman.

The 23st, six-footer was a loving father to his two-year-old daughter Bernadette.

His grieving father Richard, 55, said: "He was a big lad and looked mean, but he was really a big softie. He was always wise-cracking and loved being out with his friends."

Hardman will be sentenced on March 6 after the preparation of reports.

Judge Roger Scott told him: "I am not in a position to give you any indication as to sentence, but people who plead guilty to this type of offence almost always go to custody."