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

Rodney Dawson, of Ilkley, Yorkshire had admitted causing the death of mum of two Pamela Daniels, 65, by careless driving in Meysey Hampton in July last year.

However, he denied his driving was dangerous and a judge ruled that there was no case to answer to due to the shocking state of repair of the road.

Dawson was then formally found not guilty of that charge.

Judge Lawrie sentenced Dawson to a six month prison term suspended for 18 months, and disqualified him from driving, also for 18 months.

The prosecution told the jury that Mrs Daniels, of Meysey Hampton, nr Cirencester, was driving her Audi car with her husband and grandson as passengers to a garden centre in Lechlade on the day of the accident.

Dawson was driving his wife, daughter and son in law to a wedding reception in the hamlet of Ready Token and failed to stop when he reached the junction with the A417 - causing a collision with Mrs Daniels' car as he emerged onto the main road.

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.

“It is likely that trees that were subsequently cut back would have obscured the nearside give way sign," Judge Lawrie said.

“The road markings seem to have ceased to exist, thanks to Gloucestershire County Council's care for the road.”

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.

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.

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 that 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.

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

Then 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.”