A 20-YEAR-OLD driver has escaped a jail term after he was convicted of causing the death of a Little Marlow pensioner.

Thomas Pearce was on his way to work on March 6 last year when he lost control of his Seat Ibiza and hit great-grandmother Jean Croft, 77, on the roundabout above the Marlow bypass.

Pearce pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving this morning and was given a one-year jail sentence, suspended for 18 months. A charge of causing death by dangerous driving was dropped.

A court heard how his car was travelling at 'excess speed' and mounted a kerb before bouncing off a fence and killing Mrs Croft. Pearce, of Sedgmoor Road, Flackwell Heath, stayed at the scene and helped the emergency services.

Judge Lord Parmoor said at Aylesbury Crown Court, sitting at Amersham Law Courts: “The cause of the accident was excess speed. No figure has been placed upon the speed at which you entered the roundabout.

“Your excess speed caused you not only to lose control but to travel across the carriageway to mount the pavement to knock over and kill poor Mrs Croft.

“Nothing I can do or say can bring her back to life. The family have to live with the death of Mrs Croft and you also have to live with it.”

He gave Pearce credit for his “late plea”, adding it was “fair and appropriate” to suspend the sentence. Pearce, who lives with his parents, was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid community work, pay prosecution costs of £1,500 and banned from driving for 18 months.

Mrs Croft had been walking her Jack Russell Tilly when the accident happened on the A4155/A404 junction just after 7.30am. She was a retired care worker and lived with husband Fred, 83, at Westhorpe Park in Little Marlow.