A court has upheld a five-year jail sentence on a death-crash driver who went on to commit his third drink-drive offence within weeks of being charged.

The Court of Appeal in London ruled that the jail term imposed on Neil Zanardelli, 23, was "not manifestly excessive".

Lord Justice Mantell said Zanardelli, of Storrington, no doubt regretted the death of 31-year-old Carl Reynolds in a head-on collision between their cars in December 1998.

But the judge, sitting with Mr Justice Henriques and Judge Fawcus, added "By driving again with excess alcohol so soon afterwards he drives this court to the view that his remorse is not as complete as it might have been."

The judges dismissed Zanardelli's appeal against the sentence, passed at Chichester Crown Court for causing the death of Mr Reynolds, of Horsham by careless driving having consumed excess alcohol.

Only two months before the crash, near Wisborough Green, Zanardelli had finished a period of disqualification for an earlier drink-drive offence.

And two weeks after being charged with causing Mr Reynolds' death he again drove with excess alcohol.

The judge said Zanardelli seemed "decent enough" but had a problem with drink, which he had done his best to overcome while in prison.

His lawyers argued that an appropriate sentence would be four years.

The court would not allow its sympathy for the dead man's family to interfere with its judgment, the judge said, but the effect on the family was a significant factor.

He said: "No sentence can bring back a young life so tragically lost, nor can it assuage the anguish which the accident has caused to Mr Reynolds's immediate family."