A driver who killed a motorcyclist after a “momentary lapse in concentration” has been spared jail.   

Sarah Pratt hit the biker while driving her Volvo V60 southwest on Sixteen Foot Bank between Upwell and Chatteris. 

While approaching the railway bridge, the 65-year-old moved to her right to move towards the crossing but ended up colliding head-on with a Kawasaki EN650 motorcycle. 

The rider - Brian Dewey, 73, from Ely - was pronounced dead at the scene following the incident on June 3, 2023. 

Pratt, of Ryston Hall, Ryston, Downham Market, was interviewed by police and provided a pre-prepared statement. 

She explained she thought her route was clear but heard a bang as she turned right. 

The statement detailed how, after the crash, Pratt had remained at the scene. 

It said she suffered a bruised sternum and suspected whiplash in the collision, which she said left her incredibly shaken and dealing with significant anxiety and distress. 

Pratt was later charged with causing death by careless driving and pleaded guilty to the offence at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on August 12. 

She was sentenced at Cambridge Crown Court on Friday and was handed two months and two weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months. 

She was also ordered to complete 175 hours of unpaid work and disqualified from driving for 18 months. 

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Sentencing, Judge Matthew Lowe said Pratt should have seen Mr Dewey as she turned but added that there was no evidence either party was driving at speed or unsafe. 

He said that he had read the “heartbreaking” victim impact statements in the case, adding that it was clear Mr Dewey was “loved deeply by many” and there was an “immense void left” by his death. 

Judge Lowe highlighted that he had sentenced Pratt on a “momentary lapse in concentration”, noting that she showed genuine and profound remorse, was a woman of good character and otherwise had a clean driving licence. 

Detective Sergeant Craig Wheeler, of the BCH Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: “This was a heartbreaking case where a completely innocent motorcyclist has lost his life in a completely avoidable collision. 

“I would like to remind all road users to ‘think bike’ and remind everybody that one small lapse in concentration can have devastating consequences. 

"While no sentence passed will ever compensate for the death of Mr Dewey, I hope that this outcome can offer his family some form of closure.”