British expat Luke Armstrong was yesterday convicted of causing a car crash that left one man dead and two people injured.

A Supreme Court jury found him guilty by unanimous verdict after less than two hours of deliberations.

The 25-year-old was sentenced to a total of 15 months in prison by Justice Norma Wade-Miller.

Speaking before sentencing, Armstrong, who was visibly emotional, apologised to the court saying: "I'd like to say how sorry I am to the families involved. I am sorry. It's been hard for me and my mum and dad as well to go through something like that. I am just speaking from my heart. I just want everyone to know that I am sorry."

Armstrong, who spent many childhood vacations in Bermuda, was behind the wheel of a heavy truck that he was not licensed to drive when it veered onto the wrong side of the road in the early hours of April 5 and hit a car being driven by Winston (Yogi) Burrows, 44.

Mr. Burrows who had a paralysed hand from a previous road accident 12 years before was killed by the impact of the crash. He remained trapped in the vehicle as it burst into flames. Tests later showed he had alcohol and cocaine in his system.

His friend Evelyn Rewan, 30, who was in the back seat of the car, suffered severe injuries including a broken neck, broken knee, broken toe, and a laceration that ripped her forehead open down to the skull.

Fellow rear-seat passenger Honest Masawi, a 46-year-old Zimbabwean, escaped with a bad cut over his eye. He helped drag Ms Rewan, a mother of three, to safety before the car exploded, but was unable to free Mr. Burrows from the wreckage of the smash, which happened on South Road, Warwick, on April 5.

Armstrong, originally from Brigg in Lincolnshire, England, worked for Arctic Air Conditioning but has since lost his job. He appeared to be drunk when the Police arrested him in the hours after the crash. However, the results of the breath-test he gave were never shared with the jury (see separate story).

He was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving, two counts of causing injury by dangerous driving and one of driving without a valid license. He showed little emotion as the verdict was delivered and his parents, David and Teresa, left court without comment.

Speaking after the verdict. Mr. Masawi said: "That's good news. I was looking forward to the law taking its course."

Mr. Masawi, who lives in Pembroke and who works at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital maintaining the air conditioning, said the crash has had a lasting impact.

"I've been greatly affected by the whole thing. I'm no longer the Honest that I was before the crash. I saved Evelyn and tried to save Winston. I did my best," he said.

Ms Rewan, a hospital receptionist from Warwick, was overcome with emotion after the verdict and spent many minutes crying and hugging well-wishers. She still bears visible scars on her face and had to wear a metal support brace on her broken neck for three months after the crash. Mr. Burrows had been driving her home in her own car as she'd had too much to drink during a night out.

She said in a previous interview with this newspaper: "I now say he was my angel because if that was me behind the wheel, it would have been me. Not that I wanted him to die — oh no — but he was my angel. That was him. That was the kind of thing he would do. He always wanted to help somebody, all of that."

Mr. Burrows' sister Ayanna Roberts, 33, also paid tribute to Mr. Burrows as she gave her reaction to the verdict. "I'm happy, she said. "Justice has been served."

Mr. Burrows was an odd-job man who helped out at Warwick gas station. His sister added: "I saw him two weeks before it happened at his job. We just talked about everything and he asked how my children were. He was a good brother and role model for me and I miss him very much."

Speaking during sentencing submissions, Crown prosecutor Cindy Clarke read a "victim impact statement" from the Burrows family and Ms Rewan.

The Burrows' statement said: "It's been seven months. Not a day passes that we don't remember his death. We had to stand metres away from the burning car unable to help him. He was a fixture in the Warwick community. He is sorely missed and our hearts will forever be broken."

The court heard in Ms Rewan's statement that she had a broken right big toe and still cannot wear closed-toe shoes. She also has knee problems and still goes to physiotherapy. Ms Rewan was overseas in hospital for just under a month and was out of work for six months causing her to lose her job, her car and be burdened by debt.

Armstrong's lawyer Saul Froomkin QC said: "I suggest that if anything's at the lowest of dangerous driving, it must be this. He was over that centre line by just some inches. There's no evidence that he was impaired." He asked Mrs. Justice Wade-Miller to use "temperance and common sense" when making her decision.

Before sentencing Justice Wade-Miller said: "A life was lost in this case and serious injury occurred. I have taken into account Mr. Armstrong's show of remorse. Motor vehicles can be lethal if not driven properly."

She sentenced Armstrong to 15 months in prison for causing death by dangerous driving. He was also given six months for two counts of causing injury by dangerous driving. The sentences are to run concurrently. He was also banned from driving all vehicles for three years and given 12 demerit points.

They heard during the trial that he has a clean record in Bermuda. However, what they did not know was that in 2003, when he was 18 years old, he failed to stop for Police turning off his car lights and driving off into the night instead.

According to his local newspaper, the Scunthorpe Telegraph, the incident took place about 9.30 p.m. one evening after Police heard a car accelerating through the gears. "An officer stepped out into the road to signal him to stop," said prosecutor Dennis Aisthorpe.

Armstrong, who was recognised by the officer, ignored the signal. "The defendant did not stop but switched his headlamps off," Mr Aisthorpe said. When questioned about the incident, Armstrong gave no explanation for failing to stop, telling interviewing police: "I should have done but I didn't," adding, "I just panicked."

He admitted charges of failing to stop as directed and driving without lights and was fined and given demerit points.

The Bermuda court case heard from Police collision investigators Sergeant Emmerson Carrington and Inspector Philip Lewis who both stated that Armstrong's pickup truck which was heading west was in the eastbound lane Mr. Burrows was travelling in when the collision occurred.

They reached that conclusion due to gouge marks in Mr. Burrows' lane caused when the undercarriage of the vehicles dipped in the collision. They also told the jury that scrape marks on the road surface beginning in Mr. Burrows' lane were caused by the exposed steering arm of the truck after its wheel was knocked off in the collision. And, they said, physical damage to both vehicles and debris in the road supported their opinions.