A speeding driver who mowed down a couple at a crossing has lost his appeal to have his sentence of 12 months cut after judges heard that he would have been freed wearing an electronic tag after only seven weeks in prison.

A speeding driver who mowed down a couple at a crossing has lost his appeal to have his sentence of 12 months cut after judges heard that he would have been freed wearing an electronic tag after only seven weeks in prison.

A senior defence counsel told appeal judges that even he was surprised that Mohammed Ahmed, 20, faced being released and tagged at that stage.

Ahmed, of Tullibody, Clackmannanshire, was earlier sentenced to 12 months' detention after driving dangerously and at excessive speed and losing control of a car before colliding with Joanne and John McDonald.

Mrs McDonald, 57, was thrown on to the bonnet of the Vauxhall Corsa and smashed into the windscreen. She suffered a brain haemorrhage.

Mr McDonald landed 20ft away in bushes and sustained multiple fractures. He spent four months in hospital after the collision in Alloa in 2006.

Ahmed admitted driving dangerously and failing to stop, then appealed against his sentence, claiming it was excessive.

Lord Osborne, who heard the appeal with Lord Mackay, rejected the challenge to the sentence yesterday.