A YOUNG man has been warned to prepare himself for jail for causing the death of a pedestrian by careless driving.

Ryan David Jones, 24, was racing his Vauxhall Corsa on the A19 at Brayton when he hit Richard Grainger, 43, on Sunday August 28 last year, said the prosecution.

Dominic Benjamin Hippe, 28, who was also ordered to attend court following the crash at about 8.30am, did not appear and is now on the run.

Several members of Mr Grainger's family and friends were at York Magistrates Court when Jones, 24, of Fostergate, Selby, pleaded guilty to causing his death by careless driving.

District judge Adrian Lower said Jones' actions had also seriously injured one of his passengers, as well as killing Mr Grainger.

He told Jones: “Given the nature of your driving, given what took place, I must sent the case to the crown court. How you are sentenced is entirely a matter for the crown court, but I am not excluding the possibility you could go to prison on April 27 and you must prepare yourself for that.”

Jones was released on bail until he appears before York Crown Court on April 27 and was disqualified from driving until then. The length of the driving ban will be decided by the sentencing judge.

He was represented by Mark Whitfield. Dressed in a suit, he spoke softly only to confirm his name, age and address, during the hearing

The district judge issued a warrant for the arrest of Hippe, 28, of Mill House Caravan Site, Moss Road, Askern near Doncaster.

He is alleged to have used a BMW without insurance on Doncaster Road, Selby on August 28.

He is also alleged to have committed fraud between August 19 and October 5 last year not disclosing his motoring convictions and that he had been banned from driving when applying for car insurance, and to have failed to answer bail at Fulford Road Police Station on March 3 during the police investigation into his actions.

The A19 road was closed for more than five hours by the crash.