MACAULEY GILBERT is nine years old today. Sadly, he has no mother to organise his party and no brothers to celebrate with.

Yesterday, when he should have been looking forward to a day of fun and laughter, he was taken to court where the driver who killed his family was sent to prison for seven years.

Police believe 23-year-old Scott Easton fell asleep at the wheel of his delivery van the morning after a drinking session with friends and going to a late-night party.

Easton had slept for a maximum of three hours before he started his shift, delivering newspapers and magazines across Teesside, County Durham and North Yorkshire.

After the accident, on the A1 in North Yorkshire, in March, police and forensic scientists calculated Easton was still over the drink-drive limit when he caused the crash.

The tragedy claimed the lives of Citroen Saxo driver Neil Jex, 37, his fiancee, Paula Gilbert, 29, and her sons, Tristan, three, and seven-month-old Kaiden.

Ms Gilbert's other son, Macauley, was the only survivor from the hatchback, which spun out of control, left the road and collided with trees.

Macauley, who attended Teesside Crown Court with relatives yesterday, suffered two broken legs and a broken wrist.

He was taken to hospital in Middlesbrough by the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, and is now being looked after by Ms Gilbert's parents. He is said to have made "a good, albeit protracted, recovery". He will still need an operation to remove metal pins from his legs.

The court heard that Easton's drowsiness meant he did not see the family's car in front of him on the A1 near Kirkby Fleetham, between Leeming and Catterick, at about 8.40am.

Easton had been drinking in bars in Stockton the previous night and went to a party at a friend's house until between 3am and 3.30am, said Andrew Dallas, prosecuting.

Mobile phone records show he received and opened a text message at 5.35am, and received three calls between 5.38am and 5.49am, as well as more texts until 6.08am.

Mr Dallas said: "The inference is that between about 5.30am and 6.15am, his sleep must have been disturbed. The defendant, we say, had had a very limited amount of sleep.

"He must have been well over the limit when he got up for work, but he did arrive at his depot on schedule after apparently driving to work in his mother's car."

Colleagues later told police they thought Easton looked tired, and other motorists who saw his van on the A66, between Teesside and Darlington, noted his worrying driving.

One said he was so concerned by the Transit veering onto the verges that he stayed a distance behind, and looked for a police car to stop the van.

After a delivery at the Tesco store in Eaglescliffe, near Stockton, Easton travelled to Piercebridge, near Darlington, and then south on the A1 towards Catterick and Bedale.

Police calculated that Easton would have had the Saxo in his sights for a minimum of 44 seconds and a maximum of 67 seconds, if he had been watching the road.

Mr Dallas described the damage to the Saxo as catastrophic, and said passers-by were unable to help any of the occupants.

Mr Jex and his partner, as well as the two children, died instantly, while Macauley had to be cut free.

The family, from Hebburn, South Tyneside, had been travelling to visit Mr Jex's relatives in Blackburn, Lancashire.

Easton, of Hebburn Road, Stockton, admitted four counts of causing death by dangerous driving, was banned from the roads for seven years and ordered to take an extended driving test.

His barrister, Tim Roberts, told the court: "He should not have got behind the wheel of his van that day. He should have had the maturity and good sense to walk away from work.

"It is accepted on his behalf that through drowsiness - which may have been a product either of the lack of sleep or the alcohol, or a combination of the two - he was dangerously inattentive.

"The defendant did not go out intending to drink and drive."

Outside court, Sergeant Les Moorhouse, of North Yorkshire Police, said the case highlighted the dangers of the "work hard, play hard" lifestyle of young men.

He said: "Some people put in long hours during the day and go out drinking in the evenings until the early hours, then wake up having had minimal sleep, still feeling the worse for wear, jump behind the wheel and start their working day all over again.

"Not only is there the serious issue of tiredness and lack of sleep that dramatically reduces concentration and ability to drive, but there is also the fact that alcohol - and drugs - do remain in people's systems from the night before. Macauley is still coming to terms with the loss of his close family. It has had a devastating impact on all the immediate family and friends, but they are today satisfied that justice has been done."