A BANNED teenage motorcyclist mowed down and killed a pensioner on a Sunday stroll along a path, York Crown Court heard.

Walkers snatched children and dogs out of the path of Adam Craig Hudson as he sped at up to nearly 50mph along the Sustrans cycle path between York and Osbaldwick, said Andrew Dallas, prosecuting.

The 18-year-old, who had taken the machine without the owner's consent shortly before, was on bail for vehicle snatching, banned from driving for sharing in an aggravated car snatch a few months previously, and on probation for burglary. He also knew motorcycles were forbidden on the cycleway, but was riding up and down it, revving the Suzuki bike.

Retired milkman Jack Middleton, 77, tried vainly to get off the path to escape, but was hit by the motorcycle with such force Hudson came off, said Mr Dallas.

A jogger eyewitness ran to call an ambulance, but the pensioner died from multiple injuries before reaching hospital.

He had been taking an after-lunch stroll.

After hearing Hudson has an IQ of 59, Judge Michael Mettyear adjourned sentence until Monday, saying he needed time to think.

Hudson, of Osbaldwick Lane, York, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and driving while disqualified on 30 January.

He told the jogger: "I'm off" and tried to kick-start the motorcycle. When that failed, he abandoned it and fled, throwing his helmet into a nearby school hedge.

But within hours he was arrested at York District Hospital where his parents had taken him for treatment for his injuries.

Accident investigators later assessed his speed just before the crash at between 46mph and 49mph. The machine's maximum design speed is 52mph.

For Hudson, Andrew Cohen said he was a vulnerable, easily-led person who had been threatened and bullied while on remand in a young offenders' institution.