A VETERINARY surgeon from Herefordshire involved in a crash near Church Stretton in which a woman died has been banned from the roads for 15 months..

Stephen Lomax, 63, was convicted of causing the death of Carol Pearson by careless driving following a trial last month.

Passing sentence at Shrewsbury Crown Court last week Judge Jonathan Gosling noted that Lomax had not expressed any remorse in his probation interview.

He said the defendant was ordinarily a careful driver and had no reason to be in a hurry that day and was familiar with the road.

"There were no extraneous circumstances which could have explained the collision," he said.

Lomax, of Boresford near Presteigne, was also given a 12 month community order which will include 300 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay £1,000 court costs.

The court heard the accident happened on the A49 at Affcot, near Church Stretton, on January 14 last year During the trial the jury heard that Lomax had failed to notice a stationary car in the road .

The defendant's Saab hit the back right side of a Skoda Fabia, which was waiting behind a vehicle indicating to turn into a lay-by.

His car then swerved into the path of a the Pearson's' Ford Fiesta on the opposite side of the road.

Both Mrs Pearson and her husband Clive were taken to hospital and Mrs Pearson died three days later.

In a victim statement Mr Pearson said he was now living "a life sentence far worse than any court could impose".

"I break down several times a day, especially while driving home from work to our now cold, empty, lifeless home, he said..

Mr Pearson said the carnage and destruction that had been brought on him and his family would never heal.

He said he noted that Lomax had not apologised and said any apology now would be "far too little and far too late."

Mr Nicholas Syfret QC, for Lomax, said that his client drove all around Wales and the driving ban would seriously impact on his livelihood as a vet and farmer.