A banned driver who was behind the wheel of a car that ploughed into three women on a zebra crossing in a hit and run has been jailed for five years and one month.

Abie Ianson had taken the vehicle without the owner's consent just an hour before the horrific accident in West Malling high street in March.

The 24-year-old, of Lunsford Lane, Larkfield, was charged with two offences of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, aggravated vehicle taking and driving while disqualified.

At his trial, he changed his plea to guilty and also admitted, ahead of sentencing, to failing to stop, driving without insurance, and two offences of shoplifting.

Judge Philip Statman said he had shown "a flagrant disregard to the rules of the road" and careered into his victims - Tracey Lemaux and Mandy Harris - when they were "on a haven" in the street

"No one suggests you set out that day to deliberately maim and injure in the way you did but your actions were highly culpable," he told Ianson.

"You are an adult, not a tearaway - an individual who knew precisely what you were doing.

"Thank goodness there was no death for me to deal with."

Judge Statman added that the shocking CCTV footage of the collision, which was played in court, would "remain in the mind for very many years".

Ianson was banned from driving for just under seven years.

Prosecuting, Ed Fowler spoke of the impact on the lives of Ms Lemaux, 49, or Ms Harris, 60.

"Mandy Harris says her life has been ruined. She was a very active person with a number of people depending on her and she now struggles to care for herself and feels like a prisoner in her own home," said the prosecutor.

"Tracey Lemaux details the life-changing injuries she suffered - the scarring to her face and injuries to her bones.

"She was previously active, completing voluntary work at a local charity shop and fundraising.

"She feels she has had a mental breakdown and feels very emotional and upset ever since. She lives on her nerves, effectively."

Ianson eventually handed himself in to police and although he admitted he had been drunk he was not charged with drink driving due to the lapse in time.

Christopher Surtees-Jones, defending, said Ianson, was a registered carer for his grandparents and was sorry for his "breathtakingly stupid and feckless" behaviour.

The barrister told the court: "I asked him how he felt and he said 'I'm just so terribly sorry. I feel wicked'."

Ianson's previous convictions included offences of dangerous driving, drink driving and failing to stop. He had been banned from the road for 41 months in April last year and then for another 38 months in December.

To read more of our in depth coverage of all of the major trials coming out of crown and magistrates' courts across the county, click here.