An inexperienced, speeding motorcyclist from Wooburn Green who killed another rider in his group was told by a judge that his driving should "haunt him" as he was sentenced on Friday.

Babar Gull, 32, received a suspended jail sentence for causing the death of teacher Ahmed Bafadhel by careless driving on the A355 Amersham Road near Coleshill on July 31 last year.

Judge Andrew Bright QC told the former taxi driver at St Albans Crown Court on September 22: "I hope you realise that by your careless driving you have brought to an end the life of a young man who had great potential. I hope it haunts you. It should haunt you."

The judge passed a 36 week jail sentence suspended for two years and banned the father-of-three, from Barleyfields, from driving for 18 months - saying he must take an extended retest before regaining his licence.

Mr Gull must also carry out 120 hours' unpaid work and pay £1,500 costs at the rate of £15 a week.

The court heard the riders had come across a Skoda that had been stopped by a police officer. He was dealing with a Mercedes car that had broken down on the crest of a hill on the other side of the road.

Mr Bafadhel, 28, was riding a Honda and was second in a line of seven bikers when he was hit at least once by Mr Gull's Suzuki, which had been travelling at a speed of up to 73 miles per hour.

The teacher, from Alpha Street North in Slough, was airlifted to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford but died of his injuries.

Mr Gull, who had only passed his motorbike test seven months before the fatal crash, suffered serious permanent leg injuries and walks with crutches.

Prosecutor Robert Underwood told the jury that the crash happened on the 60mph single carriageway Amersham Road, near the junction of Tower Road, at around 2.20pm.

In the witness box, Mr Gull said he had met Mr Bafadhel for the first time that day at the Ducati shop in Aylesbury. "He was a very down to earth, very polite gentleman," he said.

They left Aylesbury and were heading for lunch in Slough when the crash happened.

Questioned by his barrister Brian Russell, he said that as they rode along the A355, Mr Bafadhel was five or six bike lengths ahead.

"It happened very quickly. I braked. I started slipping towards the car. The only thing I remember is there was a bang. I could taste blood in my mouth."

He said: "Maybe we touched each other’s' bikes. He was on the white line. I was in the middle. I remember he started coming in."

Mr Russell said his client had a lack of experience in comparison with the other riders that day. He had no previous convictions and a clean driving licence.

In a victim personal statement, Mr Bafadhel's sister Sarah said her family did not want vengeance, but had wished Mr Gull had pleaded guilty to save the family the angst of a trial which had reopened wounds that have yet to heal.

Judge Bright said it was not hard to see why the defendant's failure to accept responsible was regarded by Mr Bafadhel's family as cowardice.

He told him: "You were one of seven motorcyclist out for a jaunt. You were not experienced, only having passed your test in December 2015.

"You were not in sufficient control of that motorcycle to take appropriate avoiding action. You were driving too fast and too close. What happened was a great tragedy for Mr Bafadhel's family and those who knew him."