A MOTORCYCLIST whose pillion passenger was killed when he was one-and-half times over the drink-drive limit was jailed for four years yesterday.

Graeme Eden, 23, lost control of his Yamaha R6 as it negotiated a bend and hit a stone wall on the A689 at Eastgate, near Bishop Auckland, County Durham, on May 11.

His passenger, John Hancock, 21, of Fencehouses, near Sunderland, suffered serious head injuries in the crash and died a week later in Newcastle General Hospital.

Eden, a Nissan factory worker, pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving while over the prescribed limit earlier this month.

Chris Williamson, prosecuting, told Teesside Crown Court yesterday that Eden, of Southburn Close, Houghton-le-Spring, had drunk ten pints of lager the night before the accident but thought he would be okay to drive. A blood sample taken three hours after the crash showed he was still one-and-a-half times over the limit.

Jonathan Adkin, mitigating, said Eden had not knowingly driven while over the limit and had suffered severe depression about his friend's death.

Eden was disqualified from driving for three years.