A DRIVER who killed a father-of-four in a hit-and-run incident was jailed for nine years yesterday.

Speeding motorist Darren Vout - who had never taken a driving test - had been ticked off less than an hour earlier by a police officer over his driving standards, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Ironically, the officer - unaware Vout had no driving licence - warned him that he could kill someone.

His speeding BMW hit Frederick Brown on a pedestrian crossing in Harrowgate Lane, Stockton, Teesside, on August 27, last year.

Mr Brown, 49, of Stockton, died of multiple injuries in Stockton's North Tees Hospital, an hour later.

Vout, who had taken heroin, cannabis and cider before taking to the road, drove off.

The 25-year-old, of Elwick Gardens, Stockton, earlier changed his plea to guilty to causing death by careless driving while under the influence of drink or drugs.

Judge Peter Armstrong sentenced Vout to six-and-a-half years for causing Mr Brown's death, and to 30 months consecutively for two house burglaries in Stockton, which he admitted.

He was banned from driving for ten years, ordered to sit an extended test and the BMW was forfeited.

Judge Armstrong said: "You are going to have to live with the knowledge that you have taken away the life of Mr Brown, and the effect that will have on his family for not only all of their lives, but yours as well."

Mr Brown's widow, Lesley, said last night that no sentence would bring her husband back.

She said: "We have had a fair sentence - some people get much less. But he took away 24 years of my life all for his own selfishness.

"Since Fred was killed we have had a grandchild, which would have been his first, and he has missed that."

Stephen Ashurst, prosecuting, told the court that Vout had a string of 120 previous convictions during the past 11 years.

He had been rushing home to meet a bail curfew while awaiting trial for two burglary offences when he struck Mr Brown.

Michael Bowerman, for Vout, said his client was remorseful.