A 71-year-old Yorkshire accountant who caused a popular Cotswold postwoman's death by failing to stop at a give way sign in the has walked free from court.

Rodney Dawson, of Curly Hill, Ilkley, Yorkshire admitted causing the death of mum of two Pamela Daniels, 65, by careless driving in his BMW 520 MSport at Meysey Hampton, Glos, on 1st July last year.

He denied his driving was dangerous and a jury was sworn in to decide that issue but midway through the trial the judge, Ian Lawrie QC, ruled there was no case to answer. Dawson was then formally found not guilty of that charge.

The judge sentenced Dawson to a six-month prison term suspension for eighteen months and disqualified him from driving, also for eighteen months.

Prosecutor Ray Tully told the jury at the opening of the trial Mrs Daniels, of Meysey Hampton, nr Cirencester, was driving her Audi car with her husband and grandson as passengers on the A417 past the turning for her home village. They were on the way to a garden centre in Lechlade.

Dawson, who had driven down from Yorkshire that day and was staying at a hotel in the Cotswold Water Park, was driving his wife, daughter and son in law to a wedding reception in the hamlet of Ready Token.

Dawson drove through Meysey Hampton and when he reached the junction with the A417 he did not stop - causing a 'T-bone' collision with Mrs Daniels' car as he emerged onto the main road.

"It seems that as he got towards the junction he was accelerating," said Mr Tully. "At that very moment Mrs Daniels happened to be driving past.

"His BMW emerged from the junction and T-boned her Audi estate with fatal consequences.

"Mrs Daniels was driving perfectly properly and responsibly. She was on the correct side of the road at a lawful speed. She did absolutely nothing wrong and had no ability to avoid the collision."

Mr Tully told the court that when Dawson was interviewed after the collision he said he had 'increased his speed as he thought he was exiting towards the national speed limit signs.'

"He said he did not see the Give Way sign for whatever reason. He said his view may have been obscured by trees on the left-hand side of the road," said Mr Tully.

"He was not able to estimate his speed but thought there was a gradual acceleration as he moved out of the village. He agreed his driving had been careless but he denied it was dangerous."

The key factor in Dawson's defence to the dangerous driving charge was that trees obscured the give way sign and the road markings indicating a junction were faded or worn away.

The jury heard that within weeks of the fatal crash two trees were removed, others were crowned and the road markings were repainted.

Announcing today that he would not allow the more serious dangerous driving charge to continue, the judge told the jury: "I carried out a legal review of the state of the prosecution case at the close of their evidence yesterday

"The conclusion I formed was that there was insufficient evidence for you to form a judgement.

"The prosecution are not going to appeal my decision, that has been checked at a high level," the judge told the jury.

"No witness had a sustained or prolonged view of his driving.

"Evidence was premised on impressions."

The judge said Dawson "thought he was about to enter a national speed limit and was not aware of the nature of the junction.

"It is likely that trees that were subsequently cut back would have obscured the nearside give way sign.

"The road markings seem to have ceased to exist, thanks to Gloucester county council's care for the road."

After Dawson was formally cleared of dangerous driving, the prosecutor read out a victim statement from Mrs Daniel's husband Flozell, a former United States airman.

The couple had been married for 43 years after meeting when Mr Daniels was stationed at Fairford with the United States Airforce in 1974.

"She was the heart of the family," he said. "The glue that kept us all together.

"Although I love my family, I cannot provide the same care and nurture than Pam did.

"The whole family structure has suffered catastrophically

"She is irreplaceable."

The court heard that while Mrs Daniels was dying of her injuries in hospital, Mr Daniels was also hospitalised.

He was in intensive care with fractures to ribs and the sternum.

"That limited my ability to be with her," he said. "It was frightening to think she was not going to make it."

Mr Daniels then went into the witness box to add a few words.

"I would like to thank the CPS team who did a very good job," he said.

He told the judge "I wished things could have taken the natural course," - referring to the decision to stop the trial. "I hope in time I will understand why they took this turn."

The judge said to him: "You sat through a ruling I gave through this morning. You had a lot on your plate. I am going to indicate you should have a hard copy of that ruling.

"It is important that you appreciate the steps the court went through. It was not done lightly."

Mr Daniels said that he hoped the sentence would help people think about the way they drive in rural villages.

He turned to Dawson and addressed him: "Mr Dawson, I don't have no ill will.

"None whatsoever.

"I can see that you are hurting, just like me."

Dawson's defence lawyer Paul Greaney QC said: "The dignity and decency of what Mr Daniels had to say was one of the most extraordinary things I have ever seen."

He referred the judge to 'extensive mitigation' and personal references for his client.

"He is devastated by the knowledge that he has caused such harm and loss.," he said.

"We suggest Mrs Daniels would not have lost her life if the junction was fit for purpose.

The judge told Dawson: "I sincerely hope and expect you will never come to a crown court again.

"You are going to be facing a difficult couple of months ahead as you come to terms with the consequences of your carelessness.

"The family have demonstrated restraint and decency throughout.

"The process cannot assuage the loss.

"I want to pay tribute to Mr Daniels.

"Both the document and his comments were a full and fair reflection of his enduring pain.

"I also applaud his compassion and humanity.

"He doesn't hate you.

"That is something that is rare.

"His sense of anger would be understandable," the judge said.

The judge said Dawson was 'ordinarily an impeccable driver'.

"I accept and agree that there was no conscious risk taking. What you did was careless. It was an error of judgement."

Judge Lawrie added "I was shocked and surprised by the state of repair of that road.

He noted that the 'signs were obscured to a degree'.

"The reality is that if everything had been in order the prospects of an accident would have been diminished," the judge ruled.

"You failed on this particular day and somebody died," he said.

"The real punishment for you is the sense of profound guilt that will torture you until your dying day."