THE man whose dangerous driving caused the death of a much-loved and respected Thurrock man and fled the scene of the incident in a bid to escape justice has been jailed for two and half years.

Taxi driver Norman Bullock had been driving along Brentwood Road in Orsett at around 4.05am on 5 October when his red Peugeot 308 taxi was struck by a Black BMW X5 driven by 22 year-old Edvinas Pupkis.

Following the collision witnesses reporting seeing the driver of the BMW leave the vehicle and make off. A lorry driver who stopped at the scene to help Mr Bullock was unable to restrain Pupkis who fled over fields adjacent to the A128. A subsequent search by police, including deployment of a helicopter, failed to find him.

When emergency services arrived on the scene Mr Bullock, 65, was still in his Thameside Taxis vehicle and despite best efforts of paramedics, he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Checks on the BMW established it had been stolen from an address in Hertfordshire around an hour before the collision.

Two days later officers stopped a vehicle in Wickford containing Pupkis. While booking him into custody on a separate matter, officers were able to establish he matched the description of the man who had made off from the collision in Orsett.

He was further arrested and later charged.

At Basildon Crown Court on Friday, 11 December, Pupkis, of Devonshire Road, Ilford, admitted causing death by careless driving, aggravated vehicle taking, driving without insurance, failing to stop at the scene of a collision, and failing to report a collision.

At the same court today (Tuesday, 22 December) he was sentenced to two and a half years in prison and banned from driving for four years.