AN OLLERTON man has been sentenced to five years in prison for taking an "appalling risk" on a Notts road, which killed a passenger in another vehicle.

Audrius Mickevicius, 40, originally from Lithuania, was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday last week, having pleaded guilty to causing the death by dangerous driving of 68-year-old Margaret Jones.

Mrs Jones was killed after Mickevicius attempted to overtake a car on the A6075 near Edwinstowe at about 9am on March 7 this year.

Mickevicius's Vauxhall Frontera was on the wrong side of the road when it collided with the MG Rover being driven by Mrs Jones's daughter.

The court heard how witnesses described how Mickevicius had been driving at excess speed through Edwinstowe and had been seen overtaking other vehicles by travelling on the wrong side of 'keep left' bollards.

He was attempting to overtake another car on the brow of the hill when the collision occurred.

Mrs Jones, from Sandbach, Cheshire, and her daughter were flown by air ambulance to the King's Mill Centre in Sutton- in-Ashfield, but Mrs Jones was pronounced dead on arrival.

Mickevicius admitted having drunk half a litre of 40% proof rum the previous night and a breath test following the collision gave a reading of 47 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.

In mitigation, the court was told the defendant had been in this country for five years and was working as a mechanic.

The jury was told Mickevicius had woken up at 7.30am that morning feeling fine.

He was heading for a car boot sale to pick up tools when the crash happened, the court heard. Sentencing Mickevicius, Judge John Burgess said the overtaking manoeuvre had been an "appalling risk to take."

The judge said: "Whether it was the drink alone that caused you to drive as you did, I would say it would have undoubtedly impaired your judgement and ability to react.

"Whatever the reason, there is no doubt in my mind that you drove in a way that created a substantial, if not a great risk, of danger and it was a risk you have either deliberately ignored or chose to disregard."

Mickevicius, who had no previous convictions in the UK or in Lithuania, was also disqualified from driving for five years.

Detective Constable Helen Neaverson, of Notts Police's crash investigation unit, said: "This act of utter recklessness has devastated Mrs Jones's family, with the added trauma for her daughter of having to relive a collision that took her mother's life and could have ended her own.

"This case illustrates that driving under the influence of alcohol is potentially lethal.

Even if that alcohol had been consumed the night before, it can still remain in your system well into the next day.

"Mickevicius had drunk a substantial amount of strong alcohol, which clearly had a terrible consequence the following morning when he got behind the wheel.

"Drink-driving is one of the 'fatal four offences' that we are determined to prosecute rigorously in Notts in order to save lives on our roads.

"I hope this sentence serves as a deterrent to anyone who thinks they can take such risks, but no term of imprisonment can ever compensate for the loss of a life," she added.