A MAN who killed a teenager in a high-speed car crash was yesterday back in court after smashing into a motorway barrier while drunk.

Malcolm Carter walked away following the smash near Ainley Top and tossed his car keys into a field.

He was arrested by police soon after and charged with drink-driving.

The 28-year-old was jailed in June 2003 for causing death by dangerous driving.

Carter, then aged 19, was sent to prison for five years after his passenger died when he lost control of his vehicle and hit a lamppost.

He appeared at Kirklees Magistrates’ Court yesterday where he admitted driving over the prescribed limit.

James Weekes, prosecuting, said the crash happened at just before 5am on February 18.

Police arrived on Lindley Moor Road where they found Carter’s badly damaged Vauxhall Insignia.

He had crashed into the barrier on the hard-shoulder of the M62 as he drove from Manchester to Halifax.

Carter got off the motorway before abandoning his car on the road at Ainley Top.

Mr Weekes said: “Police found the vehicle had damage to all its panels.

“The driver was walking away from the scene of the collision.

“They thought they could smell alcohol on his breath.

“The defendant told them he’d thrown his keys to the vehicle into an adjoining field.

“He said he’d panicked when he saw the officers.”

Carter, formerly of Scammonden Road in Barkisland, admitted that he had been drinking earlier that evening.

He said that as he reached the slip road his car had aquaplaned out of control.

Breath tests revealed that he had 69 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath – almost twice the legal limit of 35mg.

Magistrates heard about Carter’s previous conviction when a judge at Bradford Crown Court sent him to a young offender institution.

He was also banned from driving for 10 years after he admitted causing the death of 19-year-old Paul Clarke.

Mr Clarke died from severe head injuries when the Vauxhall Corsa being driven by Carter smashed into a wall and then a lamppost on Denholme Gate Road in Shelf on June 9, 2002.

Carter had been driving at speeds of up to 70mph in a 40mph zone when he lost control overtaking another car at a left-hand bend.

In November 2003, his prison sentence was reduced to 42 months.

Carter, now of Holme Drive in Leicester, initially denied the new matter but changed his plea to guilty shortly before his trial.

Eleese Hatton, for Carter described him as a successful businessman with premises in London, Manchester, Leicester and Newcastle.

She said that on the day of the offence her client had been at a photo shoot for one of his companies.

He had later taken his staff out for drinks in Manchester before driving home.

She said: “In his mind he’d taken things easy but, unfortunately, he hadn’t had anything to eat.

“There had been heavy snow which was starting to melt.

“There was no warning about the surface water that was on the road and as a result of that Mr Carter’s car aquaplaned, causing him to collide with the hard-shoulder.”

Ms Hatton added that the “likeable young man with a strong work ethic” was devastated by his prosecution.

Magistrates banned him from the road for 20 months.

They also fined him £200 and ordered him to pay £400 costs and £20 victim surcharge.