A PROFESSIONAL footballer who had been using his mobile phone before killing a 77-year-old Retford man in a car crash has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Adam Chapman, 20, of Hill View Crescent, Clarborough was man of the match for Oxford United when they won the Blue Square Premier playoff at Wembley on May 16.

He admitted causing the death of Thomas Bryan by driving dangerously on the A620 Gainsborough Road in May last year.

Chapman was driving a Vauxhall Corsa when it was in a head on collision with Mr Bryan's Honda Civic near North Wheatley.

The victim's passenger was his inseparable partner Glenys Bloomer, 74, Nottingham Crown Court was told.

The couple had been romantically linked 60 years ago before they each married, said Michael Auty prosecuting. After their partners died they had met up again and been together for the past six years.

Chapman told police the sun had been in his eyes on the brow of a rise and he had reached for the visor but missed it. Later he accepted he had used his Blackberry up to three minutes before the collision.

Judge John Milmo said the internet connection was still live. "It may be he was drafting or receiving a text at the time, we don't know."

Chapman was banned from driving for five years.