A traffic police officer who killed a schoolgirl after speeding at up to 94 mph without blue lights or a siren, was today jailed for three years.

Hayley Adamson, 16, died instantly after she was hit by Police Constable John Dougal's Volvo estate as she crossed a residential road in Newcastle in May last year.

He denied causing death by dangerous driving, claiming his speed in a 30 mph zone was justified as he was following a suspect car.

But he was convicted by a jury at Newcastle Crown Court last month, the Press Association reported.

Dougal was on a night shift when his patrol car's registration number recognition system alerted him to a vehicle which had just passed him in the opposite direction.

He turned his car round and sped up to 94 mph, slowed slightly as he went over a hill, before he saw Adamson step into his path. It was estimated that the Volvo had slowed to around 70 mph when it hit the teenager.

It emerged the car he had been following had been wrongly indicated to be suspicious and was being lawfully driven.

Dougal, a qualified advanced driver, told the court during his trial he did not want to alert the driver that he was being pursued by putting on his sirens or blue lights.

After the trial, Gary Garland, the North East Commissioner for the Independent Police Complaints Commission, said the accident "should have been totally avoidable".

"PC John Dougal is a highly trained police driver, yet he chose to take totally unnecessary and unacceptable risks and travel at high speed on a residential road," he said.

"He had no justification whatsoever to drive at such excessive speed."

The court heard glowing testimonials for Dougal today. His lawyer John Elvidge said his client's life had been "devastated by his driving over a period of time which can be measured in seconds".

Dougal has since resigned from the force.

Judge David Hodson said the case was "an immense tragedy for everyone involved in it".

"A young woman on the threshold of her adult life has been killed and her grieving family have suffered an unbearable loss," he said.

The judge said he accepted Dougal was a highly trained police driver who loved his job and possessed "rare human qualities".

"When Hayley went out into the road ahead of you, despite the remarkable swiftness of your actions and your strenuous but unavailed efforts to take avoiding action, this dreadful collision occurred and Hayley was dead," he said.