A man has been jailed for a year after admitting causing death by careless driving.

Romanian Costica Ciapa, 27, was due to stand trial at Maidstone Crown Court but pleaded guilty to the charge when he appeared in the dock.

Rimantas Karvelis, 56, died after being hit by a black Vauxhall Astra being driven by Ciapa on Saturday, October 24, in London Road, Gravesend.

Lithuanian Mr Karvelis, who had only been in this country to visit his sick son in hospital, suffered fatal injuries after he was struck at about 7pm by Ciapa’s car.

He died 10 days later on November 3. Ciapa also admitted causing death while driving without insurance and without a licence, failing to stop after an accident and failing to report an accident.

He had previously admitted dangerous driving in London Road and Grange Road, after he drove off from the scene.

The court heard how Ciapa, of Wellington Street, Gravesend, committed the crimes while on bail awaiting sentence for sex offences and robbery. He was given a 30-month sentence for those offences after he was arrested for hitting Mr Karvelis.

The crash happened near the Aldi store in London Road and Ciapa’s car was later found abandoned in Grange Road.

The court heard Ciapa faced a maximum sentence of five years but that a crash expert for the defence had concluded the collision was unavoidable as Mr Karvelis was crossing the road diagonally.

David Malone, prosecuting, said: “It was a built up area with street lighting and it was dark, but it was lit up.

“Any road user should have been able to see pedestrians and Mr Karvelis may have taken a short cut, but he was entitled to do that.

“He [Ciapa] was driving at about 24 to 26 miles an hour at the time of the impact.

“He had failed to stop and blamed this on others in his car for that failure to stop.”

Ronnie Manek, defending, added: “It was irresponsible behaviour of failing to stop.

“It was an unavoidable collision. He [Mr Karvelis] stepped out in front of his car, we are talking just seconds.”

Judge Julian Smith said he took into account Ciapa was not speeding at the time of the incident but added: “You should have seen him. You were not speeding but you should have kept a look out ahead in the road.

“You failed to see him and tragically you struck him and killed him. This has had a profound effect on the family who have been left bereft by his death.”

Judge Smith jailed Ciapa for 12 months for all the offences and said he would be deported after serving his sentence.