THE learner driver who killed a pedestrian when he lost control of his car speeding around a bend has been jailed.

Jordan Edwards was doing 73mph when he careered across Cradley Road in Netherton, mounted the pavement and ploughed into 53-year-old Gary Wroblewski as he walked home from the pub.

The tanker driver, who died at the scene, was hit with such force that one of his shoes was found 50 metres away.

A "cowardly" Edwards ran away without helping the dying man and it was four months before he handed himself in to police.

The 22-year-old provisional licence holder, who had a string of driving convictions on his record, then claimed his Seat Ibiza had brake and steering problems.

"The only fault that night was with your driving," Judge Kristina Montgomery QC told Edwards at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

"You took the corner without stopping and you could not control your car. By your excessive speed you created a substantial risk of danger."

She stressed no sentence she could pass would ease the great pain felt by Mr Wroblewski's family, adding: "You will to live the rest of your life with the guilt that you took another person's life."

Gurdeep Garcha, defending Edwards, who admitted causing death by dangerous driving, said he had fled the scene because he was scared and panicked about what he had done.

"He recognises his appalling driving has deeply affected the lives of others" he said. "He is deeply shocked and mortified by his actions."

Mr Garcha said Edwards had bought the car himself despite not holding a full licence.

"He now understands he should not have been on the road in any shape. This was a short piece of bad driving."

He said Edwards, of Terry Street, Dudley, who hung his head in the dock throughout the hearing was full of contrition and he had offered his deepest apology to the family of Mr Wroblewski for their loss.

"There is no self-pity in his letter to the family," said Mr Garcha. "He hopes his apology will give them at least a measure of comfort."

David Bennett, prosecuting, said investigating police officers recovered Edwards' DNA from one of the air bags in his car while they also found blood on the inside of the windscreen and he was then traced.

Edwards was jailed for 57 months and banned from driving for six years.