A MAN who killed four members of a family after he fell asleep at the wheel has spoken of his regrets.

Driver Scott Easton said he wished he could swap places with the lone survivor of the crash, nine-year-old Macauley Gilbert.

The schoolboy lost four members of his family after Easton is believed to have fallen asleep at the wheel while still over the drink-drive limit after partying the night before and having had only three hours of sleep.

Easton's Transit van hit the family's Citroen Saxo, killing Macauley's mother, Paula Gilbert, 29, her fiance, Neil Jex, 27, and their two sons, Tristan, three, and Kaiden, seven months.

Macauley now lives with his mother's parents in Hebburn, South Tyneside.

Easton, 23, of Rushyford Avenue, Stockton, was jailed for seven years on Friday after he admitted four charges of causing death by dangerous driving in March on the A1, near Kirkby Fleetham, North Yorkshire.

However, Easton's mother, Janette Instone, said he would do anything to swap places with Macauley.

She said: "Scott is not looking for sympathy or forgiveness.

"He knows that those people are dead because of him and nothing he says or does will bring them back.

"It is something he will have to live with for the rest of his life, and not a day goes by when he does not think about what he has done."

At the time of the accident, Easton helped rescuers attend to the family and placed his rolled-up coat beneath severely-injured Macauley's head.

Ms Instone said: "He heard Macauley crying for help and ask Scott please mister, will you get me a fire engine'.

"He did all he could to help him; to comfort him.

"After the accident, he could not look at a child without remembering what he had done and the pain he had caused. He would just break down in tears. He could not even go near his partner's two-year-old. He would fill up.

"He would have given anything to have been in that condition instead of Macauley. He just wishes he could have switched places with him."

Macauley's mother and stepfather were travelling from their home in Hebburn to visit relatives in the Blackburn area with the intention of making plans for their wedding.

However, an hour into their journey, they were killed instantly.

Ms Instone, who also has four daughters, visited Easton in prison and said he was slowly coming to terms with life behind bars.

She said: "It was a stupid, pathetic decision that Scott took that day.

"He should never have got into that van."