Kenneth Wayne Grant, a retired police officer, was found guilty on Friday of causing a fatal hit-and-run and leading police on a pursuit while twice the legal limit, with a judge rejecting claims he was sleepwalking at the time of the crash.

The 72-year-old had claimed he was in a somnambulistic state and was not driving voluntarily when he hit and killed scientist Tony Greenfield at Bolwarra on November 30, 2019.

He had pleaded not guilty to dangerous driving occasioning death, failing to stop and assist after impact causing death and police pursuit and faced a judge-alone trial in Newcastle District Court.

In a statement released after the verdict, on Friday evening, his son expressed sympathies for Mr Greenfield's family, and maintained that his father still had little to no memory of the incident before or after his arrest.

"My father and my family accept the decision of His Honour in this matter and wish to express our deepest condolences to the Greenfield family," Mr Grant, now the principal of an advisory organisation consulting on - among other things - law enforcement and road safety, said.

"Our family have been distraught since 2019 over this tragedy, the Greenfield family have been in our daily thoughts since, we know our feelings are in no comparison to the devastation they feel in the tragic loss of life of an outstanding man who's death our father is responsible for."

In the statement, Mr Grant said his father had "spent the last two years seeking an explanation" to his behaviour on the night of the crash.

"Having both seen more than our fair share of tragedy on the state's roads, which has affected us both deeply, is why this event has been hard for us to comprehend," he said.

"Dad's trial defence was focused only on expert medical evidence as an explanation as to why my father drove that night, which was out of character and was contrary to the previous nine years where he had attended the same function and didn't drive, had previously been intoxicated and had slept at the party's location on many, many occasions. He was prepared and kitted out to sleep there that night."

During the trial, the court heard that Grant Snr and Mr Greenfield had attended the same Christmas party and Mr Greenfield was walking the short distance to his accommodation about 11.25pm when he was struck from behind and killed on Flat Road.

Ken Grant, who witnesses at the party described as being "hammered" and "extremely intoxicated", did not stop after the crash and instead sped away, veering left and right across the road and mounting a median strip.

A short time later, he led police on a pursuit along Belmore Road at Lorn despite driving with two flat tyres.

"My son is Troy Grant, the police minister," Ken Grant immediately told police after he finally pulled his car over. "And I am pissed."

A breath test revealed he had a blood alcohol reading of 0.108 and in interviews with police he claimed to have no knowledge of the fatal hit-and-run.

Grant Snr's defence claimed he had a history of sleepwalking, which involved "very complex motor skills", and could have been in a somnambulistic state at the time of the incident.

But during his closing address, Crown prosecutor Lee Carr, SC, pointed Judge John Hatzistergos to the evidence of an expert who said it would have been an "extremely unusual occurrence" for Ken Grant to be sleepwalking at his age.

Troy Grant's statement following the decision thanked NSW Police and emergency services who attended the scene and intervened.

"I'd also like to thank the NSW Police who arrested Dad and dealt so professionally with him during that night and his bizarre behaviour," he said.

Ken Grant, who watched the judgement via AVL from his solicitor's office in Newcastle, will face a sentence hearing next year.

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