ROOKIE driver Gareth Larmour will pay £300 compensation to a soldier he mowed down in a hit-and-run crash.

Soldier Brett Murphy was walking along Fairfield Road in Warminster when the teenager ploughed into him.

Pushed onto the bonnet of Larmour's Ford Escort, which he had bought less than half-an-hour before, Mr Murphy was dragged through a fence and hedge before being thrown to the ground.

The 19-year-old, who hadn't passed his test, ran-off leaving Mr Murphy for dead.

Prosecutor Michelle Hewitt said the soldier was walking back to barracks when Larmour sped round a corner. A witness saw Mr Murphy hitting the bonnet and windscreen before the car went through a fence and hedge before stopping in a factory car park.

Larmour later handed himself over to police and said: "I thought I had killed him."

Factory worker Larmour bought the car less than 20 minutes before the accident in February and said the steering lock jammed.

Bill White, defending, said the accident could have been disastrous and said: "It seems remarkable the chap who was hit managed to get up and walk away with a few cuts and bruises.

"He left the scene because he panicked he thought he had killed the chap. He is sorry for what happened."

Larmour of Blackdown Close, Warminster, pleaded guilty to careless driving, failing to stop after an accident and driving without a licence and insurance.

He was sentenced to an 18-month community order; ordered to pay £300 compensation, a £100 fine and £25 court costs.