A dangerous driver has been jailed for three years for causing the death of a pensioner.

Pamela Jayasundera died after she was hit by a Ford Ka being driven by Susan Raybould as she crossed Hurdsfield Road on March 13 last year.

Harry Lawson Court resident Ms Jayasundera, who was known to friends as Jean, was rushed to North Staffordshire Hospital after the collision – in which she suffered broken ribs, a broken leg and a fractured skull – but sadly died the next day.

At a sentencing hearing at Warrington Crown Court on Thursday (November 6), Raybould was locked up for three years by judge Nicholas Woodward for her involvement in the collision.

She had previously been found guilty at Chester Crown Court by a majority jury verdict of 10 to two.

Raybould had admitted a charge of causing death by careless driving at Chester Crown Court, but denied the more serious charge of causing death by dangerous driving.

During the trial Matthew Dunford, counsel for the prosecution, told the court that Raybould’s driving ‘fell far below what would have been expected of a careful and competent driver’.

He said that Raybould’s eyes were not on the road at the time of the incident, and that she had instead been looking into the left hand side of her car’s interior.

He also told the hearing that Raybould had received a text message on her phone at 5.01pm, just minutes before the collision, though he conceded there was no evidence that the 61-year-old, of Bollin Drive, Congleton, had looked at the text while driving.

During the hearing, a number of statements were read out from eyewitnesses, all describing seeing Ms Jayasundera, 71, crossing the road slowly using two walking sticks.

But counsel for the defence, Tina Londale, told the court that the mobile phone was a ‘red herring’, and Raybould had not been looking to her left.

Under questioning, occupational therapist Raybould told the hearing she considered herself a ‘careful’ driver, and said that she had her eyes straight forward, though admitted she had not seen Ms Jayasundera.

Raybould, who had been observing the speed limit as she drove home to Congleton from her daughter’s house on Hurdsfield Road, told the court: “I don’t know why I didn’t see her.”