AN UNLICENSED and uninsured driver from Mottingham has been jailed for six and a half years after mowing down a teenage girl in a hit and run.

Stephen Saunders, 22, of Gardeners Close, Mottingham, killed popular teenager Alessia Boschiazzo in February 2011.

The 14-year-old from Wrythe Lane, Carshalton, was knocked down in Morland Road, Addiscombe, at about 7pm, as Saunders rushed to meet his girlfriend for dinner.

Alessia, a student at Ursuline High School in Wimbledon, suffered severe head injuries and a broken pelvis, after being hit by a speeding Saunders as she went to meet friends.

After colliding with the aspiring dancer, Saunders set fire to his car by pushing a rag into the petrol cap and setting fire to it with a lighter, before fleeing the scene.

Alessia spent a week in a coma before doctors told her parents, Cecilia and Aldo nothing else could be done.

Through a victim impact statement read out in court, Alessia's devastated mother Cecilia Flores said: "We spent the night together waiting for her to be disconnected from all the equipment that kept her alive.

"I don't believe there is anything worse than seeing your child die, knowing this is the last 24 hours of her life."

Speaking of her "happy and lovely" daughter's passion for dance, she added: "She achieved one of her goals, being accepted at The BRIT. She had her audition only the day before the accident and we received the letter informing us she had been accepted just a few days after her death. Alessia never got to know she had been accepted."

Ms Flores, who has lost her job and spent time in hospital due to severe depression since her younger daughter's death, said the family had struggled to cope.

Describing Alessia's father as a "broken man", Ms Flores said their other daughter Angela, 19, had been receiving psychological support since her sister's death.

"The anger and pain of Alessia's death has been increased by the knowledge that the defendant just left my daughter to die in the middle of the road after the accident, showing no concern or feeling towards my daughter's life.

"We, Alessia's family and friends are living a life sentence now by not having her with us- a loss that can never be replaced."

Alessia's father Aldo Boschiazzo felt he could not attend court last week, knowing he would be unable to hold back his anger and feelings towards Saunders.

In a statement, he said: "One year and one month ago a criminal person was driving a car without insurance at high speed. On that day he caused the death of my little daughter Alessia and the death of the rest of her family.

"He left my daughter alone, lying in the road to die with his cold blood and criminal mind he tried to conceal the evidence by burying the weapon in this case a car. For me that was not an accident but a crime, I am a dead person now."

Saunders cried as he was sentenced to five years for causing death by dangerous driving and 18 months for perverting the course of justice, to be served consecutively.

He was also sentenced to 16 months for causing death while driving unlicensed and uninsured, which will be served concurrently.

Stephen Belfield, campaigns officer at Brake said: "This is a tragic waste of a young life. What makes it worse is that the driver tried at every step to wriggle out of his responsibility for hitting Alessia. Six and a half years is not long enough for this horrific crime.

"Brake calls on judges to apply tougher sentences up to the maximum limit to send a clear signal to drivers that speeding will not be tolerated."