A DRINK DRIVER who killed a dad crossing a street near his Southampton home has been jailed for three years.

Alan Griffiths had just bought sweets for his children when he began walking across Radstock Road in Woolston.

He died instantly after 34-year-old Jon MacTaggart's BMW ploughed into him.

Southampton Crown Court was told MacTaggart had drunk two pints of strong lager and some wine on the evening of the accident on March 10.

A police investigation revealed he was driving at about 43mph in the 30mph road when he hit Mr Griffiths. The court was told Mr Griffiths, 41, had spent the evening drinking at Woolston Social Club before leaving just after 10pm to go to his house in Norton Close.

On his way, he went to an Alldays store to buy sweets for his children.

But as he crossed Radstock Road he was hit by MacTaggart's car.

MacTaggart, who lived in the road, then dialled 999 on his mobile phone and told police when they arrived: "I've killed someone. That's it, my life's over."

After being arrested, he said he saw Mr Griffiths stop in the middle of the road, so kept driving.

A test showed MacTaggart had 41 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath, while the legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

Stephen Clayton, mitigating, said: "This case was, in the words of one of the police reports, a "tragic accident"."

He added MacTaggart's judgement on the tragic night had been affected by the recent break-up of his one-year relationship.

MacTaggart pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to causing death by driving without due care and attention when over the drink drive limit. Judge David Griffiths also imposed a five-year driving ban

He said: "The irresponsible decision by you to drive when under the influence of too much drink, although not grossly over the limit it was significantly over, contributed to the serious error of judgement you made and led directly to the death of this unfortunate man."

A relative of Alan Griffiths said after the case: "The sentence sends out the right message."

Tony Dring, chairman of the Campaign Against Drink Driving, said: "Terrible as it sounds, three years is about average.

"But the family of the person killed is sentenced to a generation of mourning and suffering.

"The message about drink driving is getting through but every time it doesn't, it causes a family a lifetime of pain."