VAN driver Oliver Lee has been sentenced to four months behind bars after admitting causing the death of mum-of-two Amy Harris by careless driving in Wrecclesham last September.

Lee, 40, a recovering drug addict from Guildford was handed the immediate custodial sentence, at least half of which must be spent in prison, at Guildford Crown Court on Thursday, watched by Amy’s husband Mark and close family.

The dad-of-one was also disqualified from driving for two years and two months, and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £115.

Lee, who the court heard has been "clean" from drugs for two years, admitted causing death by careless driving at South West Surrey Magistrate’s Court in March.

The fatal crash occurred after his victim Amy Harris, 38, had just collected a client’s dog from a house on the A325 Wrecclesham Road and was walking on the pavement between the junctions of Echo Barn Lane and Quennells Hill at around 11.30am on September 19, when she was hit by a white Peugeot Boxer van, driven by Lee

Lee, who the court also heard has no memory of the moments before the collision, was travelling at 24mph in the 30mph zone at the time of the crash and tested negative for drugs at the road-side.

Summing up, Judge Robert Fraser said Lee was on his way to Homebase when he crossed the white line in the centre of the A325, "over-corrected" and mounted the pavement, clipping a tree and a lamppost before colliding with Mrs Harris and Cooper.

The police, ambulance service and an air ambulance attended the incident, but Mrs Harris was declared dead at the scene. The six-month old puppy Cooper also sustained fatal injuries.

In sentencing Lee, Judge Fraser told the defendant: "Your actions have robbed a young woman of her life, a husband and his young family of their mother, caused an irreparable and devastating loss, and whatever sentence I hand down will not change that."

He later thanked the family for their behaviour in court, adding "my heart goes out to you".

Speaking after the hearing, Sergeant Eddie Ryan of Surrey Police's serious collision investigation unit said: “The impact of this devastating incident will have a lifelong impact on Amy’s family. The driver will have to live the rest of his life with this on his conscience.”

Read the full report in next week’s Herald, on sale Thursday, May 10.