A PEMBROKE pensioner whose careless driving caused the death of a driving instructor on the verge of beating cancer has this afternoon (Apr 9) received a suspended prison sentence.

Jean Williams, aged 84, overtook a tractor so slowly she entered an uphill bend still on the wrong side of the road.

Motorcyclist Vanessa McAloon, aged 47, who was approaching from the other way along the A4075 at Penny Bridge, “had no where to go” and lost control after braking hard on her bike.

Mrs McAloon, a qualified driving instructor, fell off and slid into Williams’ Vauxhall Corsa.

Her partner James, who was riding behind her, had no choice but to ride over his own wife.

Swansea Crown Court heard that Mrs McAloon, of Bosherston, had only one more session of chemotherapy to go and was making plans for the future, confident that she was beating the disease.

Williams, of Tudor House, Main Street, was convicted of causing death by careless driving after a trial.

Today, Judge Geraint Walters jailed her for 12 months, suspended for two years, and banned her from driving for two years.

Judge Walters said that on occasions driving too slowly could produce as much of a danger as those who drove at excessive speed.

Williams could have completed the overtaking only if she had driven with determination and purpose. But she had started the maneuvre too late and then driven too slowly.

Helen Randall, prosecuting, read a statement to the court written by Mrs McAloon’s daughter Rebecca Brockhart, who said the family had been hugely relieved to learn that her mother was beating cancer after surgery and chemotherapy.

She said she could no longer bear living in Pembrokeshire because everywhere she went reminded her of her mother.

“Without her we feel empty. I cannot describe the devastation,” she said.

“James saw the accident and was himself injured. He lost his wife, his business and his home. His bungalow has been repossessed and his business has gone bankrupt,” she wrote.

Judge Walters said both Mrs McAloon and her husband had enjoyed motor cycling and on November 27, 2016, had decided to ‘take the scenic way home’ so they could enjoy a glorious, sunny, Autumn day.

“Neither could have imagined how it would all end. Neither seemed to have a care in the world. They were simply enjoying what they enjoyed doing together.”

He told Williams: “They rounded a bend to find your car wholly or largely on the wrong side of the road.

“Putting it simply, she had nowhere to go.

“When her husband rounded the same bend he, too, was confronted with an impossible situation. He has to live with the horror of being unable to do anything except ride over his own wife as she lay in the carriageway.

“The word tragedy comes nowhere close to describing the outcome of your driving.”

Judge Walters said he accepted that Williams had led a blameless life but people had to appreciate that as they got older then everything took longer and that, in her case, included overtaking a tractor.

Jim Davis, Williams’ barrister, said she had not driven since the accident and had no intention of ever driving again.