A DANGEROUS driver who left a pedestrian with serious injuries after a hit-and-run crash has avoided an immediate term behind bars.

During “the hours of darkness”, Saad Jamil, 23, was driving too close to the car in front of him in Avon Way, Colchester, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.

When the driver in front of applied their brakes, Jamil attempted an overtake, crossing on to the opposite side of the road.

He struck a man who had ventured on to a central island in an attempt to cross the road.

Judge Christopher Morgan said: “I am satisfied there was sufficient lighting around the bollard and island on which your victim had stepped.

“It is plain you were driving far too close to the motor vehicle in front. There is little suggestion from the evidence you or indeed the car in front were engaged in a race or a form of aggressive driving.”

He added: “The car in front no doubt applied its brake because the driver was aware of your victim crossing the road.”

Judge Morgan said Jamil’s act of crossing onto the wrong side of the road “represented a significant risk of harm”.

He said: “Any overtake in those circumstances, placing a vehicle in the opposite carriageway, is going to create a significant risk to either an individual crossing the road, or indeed any car coming in the opposite direction.

“You were aware you had struck a pedestrian, you drove and you parked your car and it was only after detective work by the police that you were detected.”

Jamil had denied a charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, but changed his plea on the first day of his trial.

Judge Morgan suspended a 21-month prison sentence for two years and ordered Jamil to complete a 30-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

He decided the sentence could be suspended because of Jamil’s “genuine remorse”, his good prospects of rehabilitation, low risk of reoffending and the delay in bringing the case to court.

Jamil, of Sunny Side Lane, Bradford, Yorkshire, was banned from driving for three years.