SOFIA (Bulgaria) - BULGARIA'S former world ice-dancing champion Maxim Staviski was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison on Monday for a deadly drink-driving accident in 2007.

Staviski, 31, had been originally given a two-and-a-half-year suspended sentence.

But after the Supreme Court of Appeal ordered a retrial, a court in the southeastern city of Burgas ruled Monday that the former skating champion would have to serve the full sentence.

The 23-year-old driver of the other car was killed and an 18-year-old girl travelling with him was taken to hospital in a coma and is still undergoing special treatment.

The other two passengers in the car, a 17-year-old boy and an 18-year-old girl, suffered minor injuries.

A blood test showed that Staviski had been drinking before the crash, his blood-alcohol level exceeding more than twice the legal limit.

The Burgas court also increased the damages Staviski must pay to the families of the crash victims.

Both the prison term and the damages can be appealed within 15 days and, speaking on national radio, Staviski's lawyer said his client would appeal.

The Russian-born skater and his Bulgarian partner and fiancee Albena Denkova were the most loved sports couple in Bulgaria before the accident after winning the 2006 and 2007 world ice-dancing titles.

But the crash caused them to lose much of their public appeal at home and ruined their sports career as the couple decided not to compete in the 2008 world ice-dancing championships.

Public and media pressure on the Staviski case also mounted following the handing down in February of a 14-year jail sentence in a similar drink driving case in the western town of Pernik, where a woman killed three youngsters. -- AFP