A DRIVER who killed a motorcyclist while trying to do a U-turn has been given nine points on his licence and a fine of £460. Thomas Yerbury s Nissan Almera collided with a motorbike being ridden by 21-year-old Mike Brown, of Beech Avenue, Biggleswade, in

A DRIVER who killed a motorcyclist while trying to do a U-turn has been given nine points on his licence and a fine of £460.

Thomas Yerbury's Nissan Almera collided with a motorbike being ridden by 21-year-old Mike Brown, of Beech Avenue, Biggleswade, in August last year.

On Tuesday Yerbury, 21, from Great Gransden, pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention at Cambridge Magistrates' Court.

After the hearing, Mr Brown's mother said: "There is no penalty that can be applied that could possibly equate to the pain and suffering we have experienced."

The accident happened on the A1198 near Whaddon.

Mr Brown was travelling to Bassingbourn Barracks, where he worked as a civilian armourer and Yerbury was on his way to Shingay-cum-Wendy.

Prosecutor Paul Brown said that Yerbury knew the road well but had missed his turning so pulled into a layby ready to do a U-turn.

Yerbury had told the police that he had looked over his right shoulder and the other way before pulling out.

Mr Brown said: "He said he wasn't tired and wasn't distracted. He admitted that he was in the wrong pulling out in the path of the motorcycle because the motorcycle had the right of way."

Mr Brown said Mike Brown moved out to avoid the car but as Yerbury executed the U-turn the vehicles collided.

He told the court that the accident report by police had found no defect with the road surface or either vehicle, and there was no evidence that the motorbike was being ridden "in anything other than the correct manner".

The cause of the accident, the report found, was Yerbury failing to see Mr Brown.

After the accident, Yerbury stayed at the scene, calling the emergency services.

Mr Brown read out an emotional statement from Mike Brown's mother, Deborah, where she described him as "her rock" and spoke of the effect the incident had had on the entire family.

The statement said: "He loved his family and he was very much in love with his long-term girlfriend."

Yerbury's solicitor, Hanisha Patel, told the court: "I cannot emphasise enough how very, very sorry and remorseful Mr Yerbury is that someone lost their life in such a tragic way.

"Mr Yerbury knows he has to live with the guilt for the rest of his life and feels awful that the family must live with it for even longer."

Yerbury was ordered to pay a £400 fine and £60 court costs.

Mr Brown was a bass player with Biggleswade band Attaka.

Speaking after the hearing, his mother said: "This tragedy has devastated many lives, not only Mike's.

Ms Brown thanked the doctors and paramedics who attended the accident and South Cambridgeshire Police for their thorough investigation and their compassion.

* A Mike Brown Memorial Fund has already raised over £2,500 for East Anglia Air Ambulance and Mid Anglia GP Ambulance Service. Anyone wishing to can make donations directly to HSBC Bank, 63 High Street, Biggleswade. An anniversary tribute night is being held on Saturday, August 11, at the Weatherley Centre in Biggleswade by local bands Attaka, Gekko and Phoenix, with proceeds going to the memorial fund. For more information check out www.freewebs.com/attakamusic or email attakamusic@hotmail.co.uk