A MAN has admitted killing an elderly pedestrian in a hit-and-run while he was being chased by police.

Gavin Dawes pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and two counts of driving dangerously along Lewes Road, Coombe Road, Bear Road, Old Steine and Madeira Drive on January 10.

Dawes hit Jonos Sasvari, 78, as he drove in Old Steine at around 10pm.

Mr Sasvari’s friends and former employers told The Argus he was “such a nice man” and “totally trustworthy” as tributes were paid following the tragedy.

They said he always had a warm greeting for his friends in the betting shops he frequented in St James’s Street.

Mr Sasvari came to England in 1958 as an 18-year-old.

In the 1970s he worked at Churchill Steakhouse in Preston Street and later as a porter at The Atlantic Hotel on the seafront and as a kitchen porter in Mermaids chip shop in Western Road.

There is also an ongoing investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission into the police’s role in the incident.

Dawes, 33, of Phoenix Rise, Brighton, was remanded in custody until sentencing on June 16.

On this date he will also be sentenced for a previous incident when he sped away from police and hit speeds of up to 60 mph, narrowly missing a cyclist and prompting a pedestrian to jump out of his way on September 19, at 8pm, on Eastern Road.