A bus driver who mowed down two teenage sweethearts in his car has been jailed for 18 months.

Metin Ilkhan, 24, was jailed at Lewes Crown Court today after speeding along Hove seafront and ploughing into Rachel Birell and her then boyfriend Ian Martin, who were both 16.

Miss Birell, of Elm Drive, Hove, suffered a severe ankle injury and still has difficulty walking.

Mr Martin, of New Church Road, Hove, suffered serious head injuries. He was thrown into the air and dragged under Ilkhan's car in Kingsway on July 1 last year.

Ilkhan, a London bus driver who lives in the capital, was convicted at the same court in October of dangerous driving. He had pleaded not guilty but the jury rejected that plea after a week-long trial.

Today the judge, Recorder Anthony Chinn, jailed Ilkhan for 18 months and banned him from driving for three years.

He told Ilkhan he would have to serve half of that sentence but if he then committed any further offences on release, would have to serve the balance. He would also have to sit an extended driving test once the ban expired.

The court heard Ilkhan had only bought the car five days before the accident happened.