A BLACK Country driver who did not realise he had hit and killed a man has been spared a jail sentence after being told by a judge: "This was not your fault."

Keiran Baddams, aged 21, only learned about the Amblecote fatality the following day when he saw an appeal for information and he immediately went to the police.

He was then arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving but this inquiry was dropped after an investigation by officers.

Victim Krzyzstof Klasowski (pictured below), a 37-year-old from West Bromwich, was hit by Baddams' Peugeot near Stourbridge Football Club's War Memorial ground. Stourbridge News:

Tests later revealed he had a significant amount of alcohol in his blood, he was wearing camouflage type clothing and evidence suggested he had stepped into the road, said Rachel Pennington, prosecuting.

She told Wolverhampton Crown Court that Baddams of Mendip Close, Lower Gornal, was then charged with dangerous driving because of the condition of his car which was wrecked in the collision.

He pleaded guilty to the offence and he was given a 12 month community order and ordered to carry out 50 hours unpaid work in the community.

Judge Jinder Singh Boora further told him to pay £500 costs adding: "This is an unusual case as it is about the condition of your car and not your driving.

"You were driving normally when you struck a man who died as a result. This was not your fault."

The court had been told Baddams had been staying with a friend at a Wall Heath hotel in the early hours to buy cigarettes from a nearby garage.

During the journey he became aware he had struck something, said Miss Pennington, and he did not know what it was but it had caused serious damage to his Peugeot.

After returning to the hotel he told his friend what had happened and they both went in a taxi back to the scene where they found parts of Baddams' car.

The pair found nothing to indicate what the vehicle might have hit and the taxi took them back to the hotel but the following day Baddams saw the appeal for information about the fatality and he gave himself up.