A DRIVER who killed another motorist in a head on smash near Warminster was jailed for eight years on Thursday.

Zachary Colliss, 33, of Brown Hill Road, Romsey, Hampshire, was sentenced for causing death by dangerous driving at Swindon Crown Court.

The smash, on the A36 between Cley Hill and the Granada Service Station last April, killed 26-year-old Robert Griffin from Frome.

Colliss, who has a history of drug abuse, had no driving licence or insurance.

His green Ford Mondeo ploughed into Mr Griffin's Peugeot 206 and he was found dead at the scene.

Two female passengers in the Peugeot suffered serious injuries in the collision.

Colliss originally denied causing death by dangerous driving at a hearing in January, but later admitted the charge.

Sentencing, Judge John McNaught called Colliss a "wicked wicked man".

He said he was "most indignant" at Colliss' irresponsibility and he should never have been behind the wheel.

Speaking after the case, traffic inspector Cavan Moroney said the jail sentence sent out a tough message to irresponsible drivers.

He said: "No matter what sentence was handed down it will never compensate the family of Robert Griffin or the young girl who was injured.

"Her injuries are life changing and she is going to suffer the consequences of that collision right through her adult life. It also came out in our investigation that Colliss had been involved in a similar accident near Southampton where he blacked out and hit a car just three weeks prior to the collision that killed Robert Griffin.

"He hit a car head-on at low speed but luckily that time no one was badly hurt."

Insp Moroney said his team had investigated 20 deaths on the roads in north and west Wiltshire in the last year.

"In the case of Zachary Colliss, he took drugs, he didn't have a driving licence and the car was not insured. In spite of that he drove and the sad consequences of it were that a young man lost his life and a young girl will be carrying the scars of that day for the rest of her life."