A BANNED driver who fled the scene of a crash while his victim lay dying in the wreckage was jailed for seven years yesterday.

Bernie McDonagh was driving a stolen Ford Transit van with fake number plates when he crashed into the car Ross Shears was travelling in between Milton Common and Lewknor on the M40 near Oxford.

The force of the crash in July last year sent the blue Ford Fiesta flying off the motorway before landing upside down in a field with its three passengers trapped inside.

McDonagh, who had been drinking and taking drugs, fled the scene by driving his van across the field, through a hedge and into a ditch.

The 23-year-old, who had been released from jail just three weeks earlier, then set the van on fire — but was caught by police as he ran away.

Officers had to use spray to subdue McDonagh of Middle Ground, Wheatley, before arresting him.

Daniel Fugallo, prosecuting at Oxford Crown Court, said McDonagh had been in the Crown and Thistle pub in Headington before the accident and had ordered three pints and two vodkas.

McDonagh refused tests to establish how much he had drunk, but police said he smelled of alcohol and was unsteady on his feet when arrested.

He later admitted drinking and taking sedatives.

Mr Fugallo said Mr Shears, 28, and his family had been travelling in convoy back home to East Sussex after attending a reunion in Oxford, where his aunt Pauline Moorbath lives.

McDonagh admitted causing death by careless driving, failing to provide a specimen, driving while disqualified, arson, possessing the sedative Diazepam, a controlled Class C drug, failing to stop after an accident and using a motor vehicle without insurance.

The court heard the married father-of-three was on licence at the time and had 28 previous convictions, including aggravated vehicle taking, arson and driving while disqualified, for which he was jailed for 18 months in November 2007.

Tony McGeorge, defending, said: “He doesn’t feel he can ask for forgiveness, but he would wish the family to know that he very deeply regrets what happened.”

Jailing McDonagh for seven years and banning him from driving for eight years, Judge Patrick Eccles said: “Your indifference to the safety of other road users on that day and your utterly selfish attempt to avoid responsibility for what you did are aggravating features.”

Speaking outside court Mr Shears’s father Alan said: “Ross was a big man with a big heart and a personality to match.

“He was a loving husband, a wonderful son and a brilliant brother, no matter what sentence was handed down it would never have been long enough.”

Sgt Jack Hawkins, of Thames Valley Police, said: “This tragedy has robbed a young man of his life and a family of their loved one and Mr McDonagh must now face the consequences of his actions.”

esimmonds@oxfordmail.co.uk