A NSW man who killed his friend in a crash and then fled and assumed a fake identity for 14 years has been sentenced to at least nine months in prison.
Bradley Hazelton, 39, had been drinking on the night of July 7, 2000, when his car hit an oncoming van in Austinmer, south of Sydney, killing his 20-year-old friend Dwayne Nicholson and leaving two others injured.
In sentencing him over the fatal crash on Monday, Judge Paul Conlon said he accepted Hazelton was remorseful but that this was overshadowed by his thoughts of self-preservation.
After Hazelton was sentenced to a maximum of 27 months and taken into custody, Mr Nicholson's sister Tara Hodge yelled out "Don't ever forget what you did, you arsehole".
Sydney's District Court heard Hazelton went on the run shortly after the crash thinking: "That was it. My life was over. There was no way out."
He worked on farms in northern NSW before meeting his wife whom he told about the crash.
Moving back to Sydney for a time, he became a labourer before moving to Russell Island in southeast Queensland where he built a home for him, his wife and their daughter, and set up a window supply business.
He was eventually arrested on July 31 last year.
"Hazelton described some relief on his arrest but felt fear for his wife," Judge Conlon said.
Of his time since the crash, Hazelton later said: "I had freedom, I never had liberty. I have lived my life as a prisoner."
But Judge Conlon said his actions had added to Mr Nicholson's sister Ms Hodge's distress.
After losing their mother when she was seven, Judge Conlon said Mr Nicholson had become Ms Hodge's protector and carer.
"After all these years closure has not been possible for you," he told her.
The court heard Mr Nicholson died at the scene of the crash while another of Hazelton's passengers suffered a ruptured bladder and fractures to her pelvis.
Hazelton pleaded guilty to dangerous driving occasioning death, with two other offences taken into account on sentencing.
He will be eligible for release in August 2016.
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