A MAN who pleaded guilty to causing the death by dangerous driving of a popular young footballer has been told by a judge that a prison sentence is inevitable.

Jason Lewis, 23, of Darenfelin, Llanelly Hill, pleaded guilty to the charge at a hearing at Cardiff Crown Court. He also pleaded guilty to a charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving to a 66-year-old woman.

Both charges arose from a crash involving two cars, one of which was Lewis' Peugeot 106, which happened on Waun-y-Pound Road, Ebbw Vale, near the former Coleg Gwent campus, shortly before 7.45pm on Friday November 29 last year.

Tom Baynton, aged 21, of Gilwern, died in the crash, and pensioner Rosalind Webb received serious injuries. Three other people were also injured.

Members of Mr Baynton's family were in the court's public gallery to hear Lewis' guilty pleas.

The Recorder of Cardiff, Judge Eleri Rees, told Lewis: "I have no doubt that you have been advised that the only sentence is an immediate custodial one."

She disqualified Lewis from driving with immediate effect, adding that the length and nature of that disqualification will be determined at the sentencing hearing next month. He was ordered to surrender his driving licence.

Lewis will be sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court on Friday December 12 and he was released until then on conditional bail.

Mr Baynton was a popular former pupil of Brynmawr Foundation School, who also played for Gilwern and District FC in the Gwent Central Football League. The club's fixture scheduled to be played the day following his death was cancelled as a mark of respect.

Two days after his death a candlelit vigil attended by around 100 people was held in his memory in Gilwern.

More than 3,000 people have subscribed to a Facebook page commemorating Mr Baynton's life.

Messages have included one that called him "one of a kind", while one friend wrote that Mr Baynton had been like a brother to him.