A MOTORIST who tried to cover up a road accident in which a motorcyclist was killed was jailed for eight months.

Terry May, 30, was driving a stolen Volkswagen van on the London bound carriageway of the A13 at North Stifford when he struck Stephen Fielder's motorcycle as he changed lane without indicating.

Mr Fielder, 53, of Garden Fields, Steeple, died instantly after he was thrown from his bike and hit a traffic sign.

Richard Potts, prosecuting counsel, said May drove off and only stopped and abandoned the vehicle further down the dual carriageway because it had suffered two flat tyres during the collision.

May then contacted his girlfriend Victoria White, 26, and asked her to come and collect him from a nearby pub and the pair were witnessed returning to the van in another car before White went into the van and retrieved his belongings.

May was arrested shortly after the accident on July 27 last year and told police in interview that he didn't stop because he didn't know if the motorcyclist had been killed and he had no insurance.

He also admitted throwing away keys to the vehicle and a mobile phone but denied he had been using the phone at the time.

White initially denied any knowledge of the crash when she was questioned but later accepted May had called her and she had returned to the van to get money which had been left inside.

At Basildon Crown Court today Recorder John Lodge sentenced May to eight months in prison and banned him from driving for two years after he pleaded guilty to attempting to perverting the course of justice.

Recorder Lodge told him: "People who panic and run away for whatever reason add to the harm which victims suffer.

"You sort to flee from the scene. You sort to conceal evidence by throwing away the keys and a mobile phone."

Recorder Lodge sentenced White, who admitted the same charge, to four months in prison, suspended for 12 months and told her: "A prison sentence has to follow in your case. That sentence is not going to be served immediately but bearing in mind your age, your state of health and the fact you have responsibility for your daughter I am going to suspend it for 12 months."

He also told White, of Hogg Lane, Grays, that he accepted she had a lesser role in the offence.

May, of Plashet Grove, Plaistow, admitted careless driving and having no insurance at an earlier hearing.

Speaking after the case PC Richard March from Laindon police road traffic unit said: "A long and detailed investigation led to today's court appearance and sentencing and I hope that it brings some measure of consolation to Stephen's partner but it will never fill the gap that his death has left in her life."