A CALLOUS motorist who drove off after an accident in which a cyclist died has walked from court with an eight-month suspended jail sentence.

Mark Warner was also fined £2,250, ordered to pay £1,000 costs and complete 200 hours unpaid work when he appeared at Maidstone Crown Court. He was banned from driving for two years.

A judge said the 44-year-old former bookmaker knew he had hit Lithuanian Robertas Zalepuga, from Sittingbourne, as his passenger door was damaged.

"Callously, you drove on, hoping to escape detection," said Judge Charles MacDonald, QC. "It was only by the remains of your door mirror, left in the road, that you were traced by police."

Warner was last month convicted of careless driving after being cleared of causing death by dangerous driving.

He admitted producing forged insurance documents, driving without insurance and failing to report an accident.

The judge said of 26-year-old Mr Zalepuga, who lived at Emerald Road, The Meads, Sittingbourne: "He has a family somewhere. He has been deprived of precious life. Nothing can bring him back."

The court heard that Warner was using his mobile phone around the time of the crash on the Staplehurst Link Road.

Mr Zalepuga was cycling home from Cross and Wells packaging company on the Eurolink Estate on August 12 2005 when the tragedy occurred.

He was about to turn right when struck by Warner’s Ford Mondeo car. Without stopping, Warner, who had been working as a bookie at the town's greyhound stadium, drove home to Chigwell in Essex.

Examination of his mobile phone showed that he made two calls about the time of the accident.

Warner denied causing death by dangerous driving and an alternative of careless driving. He denied failing to stop and the charge will be tried by magistrates.