Ronald Barry George Northam had a disqualified licence and said he doesn’t remember the fatal hit-and-run on the night on March 5, last year.

Armidale District Court was told he was “too intoxicated to remember whether or not he was driving” his Toyota Camry when it struck Daryl James Brown, 60, in Cameron St about 10.40pm.

The now 46-year-old, dressed in prison greens in the dock, showed no emotion when he was handed a minimum of five years in prison in a sentence spanning almost two hours in court on Tuesday afternoon.

In front of Mr Brown’s family, including his son, Acting Judge Geoffrey Grahame detailed Northam’s driving history, which includes convictions for mid and low-range drink driving, driving while under the influence and dangerous driving.

He also has nine convictions for getting behind the wheel while disqualified and was effectively handed a disqualification from driving for life in Queensland in the late nineties – something that still stands in NSW.

“The death of an innocent pedestrian was caused by the drunk and dangerous driving of a man ... who should not have been driving at all ...given that he was disqualified from driving for life …” Acting Judge Grahame said. 

He said Northam had shown a “flagrant disregard for the driving laws” in this state.

The Leader can reveal for the first time that New England police had been secretly investigating Northam in the week’s following the hit-and-run.

Strike Force Schwebel tracked Northam using “covert methods to gather evidence relating to these offences including conversations between the offender and family members”.

Detectives obtained CCTV vision from three hours earlier on the night that showed Northam driving into a petrol station on Glen Innes Rd, Inverell.

Staff noticed that the man in the Akubra hat smelt of intoxicating liquor.

Facts tendered to the court detailed that after Northam’s arrest, when he was questioned by police, Northam “indicated that he was too intoxicated to remember whether or not he was driving his vehicle at the time of the collision”.

Armidale District Court heard parts of a victim impact statement prepared by Mr Brown’s son, Daryl Blair.

Mr Blair detailed how he and his father used to go for a drink together at the local hotel, and have “a cup of tea” every morning - something he was reminded of everyday in his home who he shared with Mr Brown up until his death.

The court was told Mr Brown was remembered as a “gentle soul”, a joke-ster, and “a kind and generous person who shared everything”, and taught his son and grandchildren how to fish.

Acting Judge Grahame said the hit-and-run had a significant impact on not only Mr Blair but the grandchildren who have been affected “by the sudden and violent way, in which their father and grandfather came to meet his death”.

In the statement, Mr Blair said he was still saving money to pay for a headstone for the grave “to suitably recognise his father”.

Acting Judge Grahame found Northam must have known that his actions – through the “smashing windscreen and [Mr Brown] being propelled over the vehicle onto the roadway” – Northam “obviously knew or must have known there was death or grievous bodily harm occasioned to the victim in this case”.

Public defender Stuart Bouveng said it “was a terrible tragedy” and nothing Northam did “will ever compensate for the loss of Mr Brown’s life”.

“No sentence that Your Honour could impose ... will ever make up for the loss of Mr Brown's life,” Mr Bouveng said.

“He was obviously a totally innocent victim going about his life … he was taken from his family members.”

Northam pleaded guilty to dangerous driving occasioning death and failing to stop at the scene of an accident causing death – both of which carry a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment.

The pleas of guilty at the earliest opportunity meant Northam received a 25 per cent discount.

Two charges of driving while disqualified, using an uninsured and unregistered motor vehicle and driving under the influence – some of which stem from when Northam was caught driving the Toyota Camry into the service station three hours before the hit-and-run – were also taken into account on sentence.

The court heard Northam had used alcohol and drugs including heroin, cocaine and cannabis on-and-off through much of his adult life.

Mr Bouveng said his client’s inability to deal with several personal struggles “had manifested itself in a long history of substance abuse”.

“Alcohol ultimately has beaten him ....and in beating him has gone a long way in causing this terrible tragedy,” he said.

He said despite “these addictions, [he has] maintained a very good work ethic throughout his life.”

Mr Bouveng said that although his client “has no memory of that night”, he had written a letter of apology and had demonstrated empathy, contrition and remorse for his actions.

But Crown prosecutor Ben Cochrane said there were several aggravating features on the night of the hit-and-run.

“There was a large if not indeterminate number of people put at risk,” he said.

He said Northam was “driving his vehicle away from the Inverell show, following a route that … was being directed by police”.

“There was a high degree of intoxication,” he said, pointing to the fact the vehicle “wandered about within the lane”, and that people had seen him intoxicated three hours earlier at the service station.

He also said with years of substance abuse, Northam claimed not to remember the events.

“When he was drunk he has set off on an exercise of driving … tragic consequences that have flowed from that decision,” he said.

The court found Northam had “guarded” prospects for rehabilitation.

Northam, who has been in custody since his arrest in April, 2016, was sentenced to a minimum of five years in prison. He will be eligible for parole in April, 2021.