A van driver has admitted causing the crash that killed a York soldier.

Joao-Paolo Agusto Garcia, from Portugal, may have been at the wheel for too long when his Sprinter van collided with a Suzuki Swift driven by Air Trooper James Richard Ashdown on the A1(M) near Boroughbridge in August.

Mr Ashdown, 23, an Afghanistan veteran and ex-Wigginton Primary School pupil, had been married for only three months when the accident happened.

He had a seven-month-old daughter and his wife, Siobhan, was three months pregnant with their second child.

Garcia, 32, pleaded guilty at York Crown Court yesterday to causing Mr Ashdown’s death by dangerous driving on August 26 and was warned he faces a long prison sentence.

His barrister, Alex Offer, revealed Garcia may have been under pressure to drive too much.

He said: “We hope to provide information as to a potential civil action being brought against his employers, the issue being the amount of time he was being required to drive.”

Garcia, of Rua Centro, dia Tivieo, did accept his personal responsibility for the death, the barrister said, as he successfully asked for sentencing to be adjourned.

The defence team have spent weeks trying to get documents from the Portuguese Consulate for the criminal court list and hope to have them ready for the next hearing. They did not go into details yesterday about what they were. Mr Offer said the lawyers hoped to give the sentencing judge reports about Garcia’s medical conditions and were also gathering character references. Garcia has no previous convictions.

Judge Roger Ibbotson said the only option would be “a significant period of custody”.

He adjourned sentencing until January 21 and sent Garcia back to the remand prison where he has been since September.

Mr Ashdown, who went to Wigginton Primary School, then Easingwold School and York College, joined the army aged 17 and was part of 9 Regiment Army Air Corps, based at Dishforth Airfield, near Thirsk.

He gave up his dream of becoming a pilot to concentrate on being a father.

His seven-month daughter Leilah was injured in the crash, as was his wife, Siobhan.