A PROMISING soldier who killed a friend in a road crash was jailed for three years yesterday.

Royal Engineers sapper, Stephen Park, 24, got behind the wheel of his hire-car after a night out drinking and crashed on his way home.

Dale Coggan, 19, died from head injuries and friend Barry Payne, 21, was left with brain damage after the accident on the A19, near Thirsk, North Yorkshire, last July.

Park, originally from Middlesbrough, but now of Moorwell Road, Scunthorpe, had spent four days travelling back from exercise in Canada before picking up his friends and driving to the North-East.

Teesside Crown Court heard how he visited six or seven bars and had at least three pints of lager and vodka and Red Bull before deciding to drive back to Lincolnshire at about 3am.

The Vauxhall Astra left the road near Leakchurch at about 3.30am, hit a fence and overturned.

Park, who was on the verge of being promoted and who senior officers had high hopes for, admitted causing death by careless driving while under the influence of alcohol.

His barrister, Gordon Stables, told the court: "It is clear from what others say about him that he is usually responsible. On this night, he was irresponsible. He is usually sensible. On this night he was idiotic. He is usually careful. On this night he was reckless."

Apprentice joiner Mr Coggan's mother, Isobel, said in a witness impact statement: "No amount of words can describe how I feel. You need to put yourself inside me to understand my loss."

Park was also banned from driving for five years.