A disqualified drink-driver from Bradford has been jailed for more than six years after losing control of a stolen car on a dual carriageway, killing one of his passengers.

Richard Balog, 24, of Ashwell Road, admitted causing the death of back seat passenger, 29-year-old Jozef Puzo, of Rotherham, by dangerous driving, at Sheffield Crown Court.

Both men, as well as front seat passenger, Balog’s brother-in-law Ladislav Grajcar, 29, also of Bradford, were thrown from the maroon Toyota Avensis driven by Balog after it veered off the road on a left-hand bend on the A630 Rotherway, in Rotherham.

The car hurtled towards a roundabout junction, crashed through the central reservation and was propelled through the air before coming to a halt when it collided with metal, chevron boards.

Patrolling police officers came across the wreckage, and the three injured men, about 40 minutes after the crash which occurred at about 8.50pm on Saturday, December 12.

Attempts were made to revive Mr Puzo, who had not been wearing a seatbelt, but he was pronounced dead at Rotherham District Hospital soon after his arrival. His fellow Slovakians, Balog and Mr Grajcar, both escaped with minor injuries.

The court heard how Balog had fallen unconscious at the steering wheel of the car, which he had taken without permission from his father as he slept during the morning.

Balog had driven to South Yorkshire from Bradford and had picked up his friend, Mr Puzo, before the tragedy happened.

Balog was so intoxicated after downing vodka and wine that police found he was more than twice over the legal limit to drive. As well as serving a drink-drive ban at the time, Balog was also on bail for an alleged assault.

At the hearing at Sheffield Crown Court, Balog admitted death by dangerous driving, aggravated vehicle taking, driving while over the limit, while banned and without insurance.

He was jailed for a total of six years and nine months and banned from driving for seven years.

Inspector Peter Serhatlic, of South Yorkshire Police’s Road Policing Group, said: “This sentence should be seen as a deterrent to anyone thinking of drinking then getting behind the wheel and driving.

“A night out in fun ended up in tragedy and everyone suffers, the family of the deceased and the family of the driver who is in prison in a foreign country. Don’t drink and drive, there are no winners in cases like this.”