A motorist who was driving at twice the speed limit when he killed an Ipswich Big Issue seller has been jailed for 12 months.

IPSWICH: A motorist who was driving at twice the speed limit when he killed an Ipswich Big Issue seller has been jailed for 12 months.

Carl Furtado, who already had two convictions for speeding on his licence, was travelling at 60mph in a 30mph limit when his VW Golf GTi struck 39-year-old Stephen Pryke, killing him instantly.

Ipswich Crown Court heard how Mr Pryke, who had been living in Austen Street, was walking in the middle of Hadleigh Road near the entrance to Chantry Park at the time of the accident, which happened in the early hours of May 1.

Russell Butcher, prosecuting, told the court that a post mortem examination revealed that Mr Pryke had died from multiple injuries. It also revealed that he had widespread tumours in his brain, lung and liver of which he had been unaware.

Mr Butcher said that a police expert who investigated the accident believed the collision could have been avoided or had less serious consequences if Furtado had been driving at 30mph.

The court heard that after hitting Mr Pryke, Furtado's car hit the kerb on the opposite side of the road and a telegraph pole before finishing up 33 metres down the road.

Furtado, 36, of Compair Crescent, Ipswich, admitted causing Mr Pryke's death by careless driving. Along with the jail term, he was also banned from driving for two years.

Sentencing Furtado, Judge David Goodin described the speed at which he was driving as “atrocious” and said the case was aggravated by his two earlier speeding convictions, in November 2008 and January 2009.

He said that Mr Pryke's presence in the road had made Furtado's task of trying to avoid him in the short time he had available more difficult.

Judge Goodin stressed that there was no reason to suppose that Mr Pryke had been in a suicidal frame of mind.

Ian Duckworth for Furtado, said his client had behaved entirely properly after the accident by stopping and calling for an ambulance. He accepted that if his client had been driving at the correct speed he might have avoided the accident.

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AFTER the hearing, Mr Pryke's family spoke of their anger that Furtado was behind the wheel of a car on the night in question - despite being caught speeding twice in the preceding six months.

Mr Pryke's cousin, Matthew, said that if the law had been harder on Furtado when he flouted the law on the two earlier occasions he might not have been on the road that night.

He said his family was pleased that Furtado had finally been locked up but did not feel that 12 months was long enough.

Mr Pryke's uncle and godfather, Graham Pryke, said he was angry and frustrated at Furtado's total disregard for the law.

He added: “He is probably a danger to everyone when he gets behind the wheel of a car.”