A 45-year-old motorist pleaded guilty yesterday to causing the death of a Birmingham University medical student by dangerous driving.

During an eight-minute appearance at Birmingham Crown Court, Jaswinder Lakhvinder Singh, who drove off after hitting 20-year-old Abigail Craen, also admitted failing to report an accident, failing to stop and driving without insurance.

Judge Trevor Faber warned Singh, of Ward End, Birmingham, that a custodial sentence was "inevitable" when sentence is passed on March 6.

Miss Craen, originally from Liss, Hampshire, died in hospital after being struck by a Ford Mondeo as she used a crossing outside her halls of residence in Pershore Road, Edgbaston, on October 30 last year.

Before Singh was arrested, Miss Craen's mother Susan took the brave decision to release a picture of her daughter lying dead in hospital in an attempt to catch her killer.

Singh, who appeared on the verge of tears at the hearing, spoke only to confirm his pleas through a Punjabi interpreter.

The case against the defendant, who is thought to have been travelling at up to 41mph at the point of impact, was not opened by prosecutor Alan Parker.

There was no application for bail and Singh was remanded in custody for the preparation of presentence and medical reports.

When he first appeared in court on November 9, magistrates were told that he had a previous conviction for drink-driving and had received a 12-month driving ban on April 14, 2004.

Angela Hallan, prosecuting, said that Miss Craen had been struck at about 5pm.

Miss Hallan said: "It was dark at the time and she was walking along the Pershore Road, a 30mph zone."

Describing how the student was thrown into the air when she was struck by the Mondeo on the pedestrian crossing, she added: "Witnesses describe how the signals changed to red and how Abby stepped out on to the road, believing it to be safe to cross.

"Witnesses also describe a vehicle speeding towards the crossing, contravening that red signal.

"The vehicle did not brake - none of the witnesses saw any brake lights and there was no evidence of any braking or skidding on the road."

The magistrates' court was also told that Singh had admitted to police that he had abandoned the Mondeo in Sparkbrook and collected it the following day before hiding it in a garage in Highgate.