A DRIVER has been for six years after he was caught on CCTV sharing six bottles of wine in a pub before he killed a pedestrian in a hit-and-run.

Allan Hale, 39, was drinking with his partner in a pub in Gateshead before he got behind the wheel of his silver Mercedes Benz C-Class.

He headed for home, but just after midnight on April 9 he mounted the kerb and knocked down Gavin Bolam, a 56-year-old father-of-two.

Hale fled in his car, but police spotted him driving erratically on the metal rims of his front tyres, which had been damaged in the initial crash.

Hale, of Appleby Gardens, Gateshead, admitted causing death by dangerous driving, dangerous driving, failing to stop and failing to provide a specimen, and was jailed for six years at Newcastle Crown Court.

He was also handed a five-year driving ban which will start when he is released.

After sentencing, the victim’s daughter Kelly Bolam said no jail term would be long enough.

She said: “We would never want another family to face the despair that the last few months have presented us with. Do not be the person responsible for a father never going home to his two daughters again.”