A SPEEDING driver showing off to his girlfriend on her 21st birthday lost control of his car and killed a young father-of-two.

And today the family of the victim condemned the two year jail sentence a "disgrace" saying his two children had been robbed of a father.

David Speed, aged 22, borrowed his father's high-powered Vauxhall Omega to go to a shop while his parents were on holiday.

But the speeding car ploughed into Christopher Young's Astra after Speed lost control negotiating a bend in Wigan.

Mr Young, aged 28, of Brunswick Avenue, Horwich, died in hospital after suffering extensive head and chest injuries. The impact shunted his car into a wall.

Speed admitted causing death by dangerous driving yesterday when he appeared at Bolton Crown Court.

Outside court, Mr Young's girlfriend, Keeley Rogers, said: "I feel disgusted, cheated and angry. It is an insult to his life. Obviously no sentence can bring back my children's father but two years is a disgrace."

And fighting back tears, his mother Sue Fairhurst, of Atherton Road, Hindley, said the verdict had left her numb.

The 49-year-old said: "He killed my son. The courts must not care -- that is all I can say."

Bolton Crown Court was told that Speed, a £30,000-a-year company executive had overtaken two cars moments before the collision in Atherton Road, Hindley, last September.

A breath-test showed he was under the drink-drive limit. Jonathan Dickenson, prosecuting, said: "He was not used to driving the car but told his girlfriend it was all right.

"She said he was showing off, spinning the wheels, and told him to behave."

Speed's shocked parents returned home to learn of the tragedy.

Neil Fryman, defending, said Speed felt remorse.

He said: "This man has a very large cross to bear for the rest of his life and he expresses his sincere apologies to the victim's family and friends and his own family. He is a man of good character.

Mr Fryman added: "His life and his family's life has been turned upside down."

Speaking outside court Miss Rogers, aged 23, added: "My children ask me each day where their father is. The sentence is like one year each for the children. His actions have robbed them of a father.

"He loved his children to pieces and was a doting father with a heart of gold. I feel disgusted, angry and cheated by the verdict."

Judge Macmillan said Speed had repeatedly ignored pleas by his girlfriend to slow down.

He added: "This is a case of a young man of previous good character committing a very serious criminal offence. No sentence I can pass will compensate for the grief suffered by Mr Young's family."

Speed, of Thetford Road, Hindley, who has three speeding points on his licence already, was also banned from driving for three years.