A MAN who killed a cyclist in a hit-and-run incident a year ago has been sentenced to five months in jail.

Jonathan Palmer, a chef at the Duke of York at Berrow, near Malvern, died after the bike he was riding was in collision with a car on October 28 last year.

On Friday, October 10, at Worcester Magistrates Court, Stephen Hill, of Birts Street, Birtsmorton, was sentenced after admitting causing death by careless driving. Hill, aged 35, was also disqualified from driving for three years.

Emergency services were called out to the A438 near the Duke of York late on October 21, 2013, after the bike Mr Palmer had been riding was struck by a Green Audi.

Paramedics attended the scene, but Mr Palmer, aged 21, of Birtsmorton, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Following Mr Palmer's death, his family said: "Jonathan was a hugely popular figure in his sporting, working and

social life in and around the area and was very much the life and soul of the party.

“His enthusiasm for life rubbed off on everyone around him. He will be missed hugely by his family, friends and colleagues.”

Mr Palmer, a former Hanley Castle pupil, was known locally as a keen football player, who played for Abbeymead Rovers in Gloucester as a junior, belonged to the West Bromwich Albion Academy for several years and played for Gloucester City youth team until suffering a serious knee injury. More recently he played for Hanley Swan FC.