A LYE taxi driver who knocked down and killed a 91-year-old man as he crossed the town's ring road has been warned he could face jail time.

Ukraine-born pensioner Mychajilo Dudok was hit in New Road on September 22 2017 and he died in hospital from multiple injuries including a broken leg.

Taxi driver Moqadas Hafeez was at fault - said Paul Spratt, prosecuting, and he told Wolverhampton Crown Court Hafeez had not been paying proper attention as he moved along New Road.

Hafeez, of Albert Street, Lye, denied causing the death of the pensioner by careless driving but he was found guilty on a unanimous verdict by a jury at the end of his trial.

Judge Simon Ward remanded the 39-year-old on bail for the preparation of a pre-sentence report but warned him: "I do not rule out a prison sentence."

"I want a report and when I have read that and listened to everything that needs to be said about you I will then decide on the correct sentence."

Mr Dudok was hit by the VW Passat being driven by Hafeez who claimed afterwards he had fallen back off the pavement into the path of his car.

He maintained he had braked, the jury was told, but he could not avoid a collision with the pensioner.

But Mr Pratt said he was lying to avoid responsibility for the tragedy - adding: "As the pensioner crossed the third lane and got close to completing the crossing he was hit by the taxi."

A witness who was in the middle lane alongside taxi said she saw the old man crossing the road.

She said: "When I first saw him he was in the first of the three lanes he had to cross.

"I said to my husband 'I don't know if he is going to make it'. I thought I was going to have to stop but as I slowed down he cleared my lane and moved into the third lane where there was a collision between him and another car. I had started to slow down but the other car had not done anything. The man stepped into its lane and it hit him."

Hafeez said the first time he saw the pensioner he was on the pavement and he had not seen him cross the road. "As I approached he fell onto the wing of the car, hit the wing mirror and fell onto the ground."

Sgt Adam Green, a senior police accident expert, said if the pedestrian had fallen or even stumbled he would have expected a different pattern of damage on the taxi.

He told the jury: "The collision occurred as a result of the driver failing to react as the pedestrian crossed the carriageway. There was sufficient time for the driver to bring his vehicle to a halt."