A SPEEDING driver has been jailed for two years after he crashed and killed a Huddersfield man.

The victim was 20-year-old Christopher Gray, a roofer who lived with his parents, Carol and Stuart, at Lindley Moor.

He died after the Peugeot 306 in which he was a rear seat passenger smashed into two walls on West Street, Sowerby Bridge, in October last year.

Another passenger, 26-year-old Adam Mallinson, was also badly hurt in the crash, which happened in the early hours after a wedding reception.

The driver, Samuel Hanson, 22, of Blackmoorfoot Road, Crosland Moor, had pleaded guilty in September to causing Mr Gray's death by dangerous driving.

Hanson had only drunk one pint of shandy that night, but Bradford Crown Court heard he had previously been banned from driving for speeding.

Prosecutor David Kelly said Hanson had dropped off two women before he overtook a lorry on a stretch of road known locally as Mad Mile.

Mr Kelly said the lorry driver noted the Peugeot was accelerating hard. As it approached a left-hand bend its brake lights came on at what appeared to be a very late stage.

Mr Kelly added: "On rounding the bend the car collided with the kerb, before mounting the footpath and colliding with a wall and gatepost."

An accident investigator estimated the crash had been at 66mph. At the scene of the crash the speed limit changes from 40mph to 30mph.

As a result of the impact, the car's suspension was damaged and the vehicle spun round, before hitting another wall on the opposite side of the road.

When Hanson was questioned after the crash he suggested they had been chatting about the girls and blamed the collision on a loss of concentration.

He accepted the road was damp at the time and it was not one he was familiar with.

Barrister Rodney Ferm, for Hanson, admitted that the hardship faced by his client and his family was very much less than that of Mr Gray's family.

He added: "The family of Christopher Gray don't bear any overt animosity against the defendant, and that is something which is commendable in the circumstances."

Two months after the fatal crash Hanson was again banned from driving for 56 days for a second speeding offence.

Mr Ferm said that since that ban was imposed Hanson had not driven again.

"He has become withdrawn and, to some extent, changed in personality," he added.

Hanson's partner gave birth to their first child shortly before he pleaded guilty in September.

Mr Ferm said Hanson had pleaded guilty, knowing he would soon be parted from them for some time.

Judge Linda Sutcliffe told Hanson he had shown genuine remorse.

She also banned him from driving for seven years, but he will not be able to drive lawfully until he has passed an extended test.