A HEROIN addict who fled the scene of a car accident, leaving a 73-year-old man to die, is facing jail for a street robbery.

Robert Webber, 22, was one of two men in a Ford Sierra that hit and killed Jimmy Mulligan, of Gateshead.

Robert Webber and his friend, Christopher Eade, also a drug addict, were both in the car that hurtled into Mr Mulligan as he waited at a bus stop.

Both denied driving and so neither has been prosecuted.

But now Webber has been told to expect jail after he carried out a robbery at The Gate entertainment complex, in Newcastle.

A court order banning any mention of Webber, Eade or Mr Mulligan was lifted.

Webber, under his real name of McKegney, pleaded guilty last week to the robbery on November 19, last year.

Mr Mulligan's son, Keith, said: "He did something wrong and I'm very glad he got punished for it. But it doesn't change anything in my dad's case. There is still this loophole in the law.

"Webber or Eade killed my father and neither of them has been punished for it."

Appearing at Newcastle Crown Court, Webber, of Wardle Gardens, Felling, near Gatesheaf, and an accomplice both pleaded guilty to robbery.

They demanded a man hand over money after stopping him to ask for change.

The case was adjourned for three weeks for reports to be given before sentencing.

But Judge John Milford warned Webber and his accomplice they could expect prison and remanded them in custody.