A careless young motorist who killed a mother of two in a head-on smash has been jailed.

Jamie Jayne, 25, lost control of his high powered Subaru Impreza on a bend of the A523 Leek Road at Bosley, at 9.50pm on June 10 last year, a court heard.

He couldn’t stop the car crossing into the path of a Peugeot 205 travelling in the opposite direction. Its driver, Susan Winterton-Brocklehurst, 50, from Bosley, was killed instantly.

Her dog Minnie the Labrador which was also in the car survived, the hearing was told.

Jayne, who had only been driving the car for a month, wasn’t driving according to the wet road conditions, a court heard.

Moments before the crash he had ‘recklessly’ overtaken a family in a Volkswagen Tiguan while driving in convoy with his friend.

Jayne, of Shaw Street, Biddulph, pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving and was jailed for eight months and banned from driving for five years.

Sentencing at Chester Crown Court, Judge Patrick Thompson said: “If ever there was a case to illustrate a young man driving recklessly in a high powered vehicle and the devastating consequences it can have, then this is it.

“Prior to the accident you drove somewhat recklessly and some moments later the danger unfolded very clearly.

“You lost control and had an appalling collision which caused the death of Mrs Winterton-Brocklehurst.

“She was driving back to her family. The consequences were quite dreadful. She lost her life and we have listened plainly to the calamitous consequences on the family, which has been heart wrenching and deeply moving. It is a tragedy for everyone concerned.

“Young people must realise that motor vehicles are lethal weapons and misusing them ends in tragedy.”

The court heard that Mrs Winterton-Brocklehurst, a counsellor and therapist, was driving home to her partner Mick Allen and sons after visiting a client.

Jo Maxwell, prosecuting, said James Lancaster, the driver of the Volkswagen claimed Jayne’s overtaking was ‘dangerous and ‘looked like he and his friend were racing’.

Mrs Maxwell said Jayne had been driving at 60mph, the speed limit, but the collision was caused by ‘inexperience’ and ‘not taking account of the conditions of the road’.

Hamish Noble, defending Jayne, said: “He should have been more careful on that bend. He feels significant guilt and remorse.”

'Life will never be the same', say distraught family

A family’s grief was laid bare in court as Susan Winterton-Brocklehurst’s brothers, partner and ex-husband described the impact of her tragic death.

Mick Allen, her partner of 15 years, said she was his ‘best friend and soul mate’, adding: “Our community has lost one of the most amazing people.

“[Jayne’s] reckless actions are eating away at me.

“I feel so angry. I have been unable to get on with my life.”

Paul Brocklehurst, her ex-husband and father of their sons, now aged 19 and 21, told the court he will be ‘haunted forever’ by the ‘unbearable’ experience of having to tell them she had died.

He added: “The boys miss her terribly.

“Every milestone in their lives compounds their sorrow.”

Neil Winterton, her brother, said news of her death was ‘like a bomb going off’ and that coping with the loss was like being on a rollercoaster “everyone was desperate to get off”.

He added: “Life for us will never be the same again. She has been stolen away.”