A Snodland motorist has been banned from driving and warned to expect to go to prison after a motorcyclist was killed in an accident.

Therese Langley, 57, had pleaded guilty to causing the death by dangerous driving of father-of-two Lee Saunders, 48, on the A252 at Chilham near Canterbury in April last year.

Langley, of Birling Road, also admitted causing serious injury to Mr Saunders’ wife Tina, 43, who was riding as a pillion passenger.

Prosecutor Paul Valder told Canterbury Crown Court that the accident happened as Langley’s red Vauxhall Zafira crossed the road after stopping by the side of the A252.

He said: “What she did was perform a U-turn from a layby across solid and dotted white lines, which was a brief but obvious danger.”

The prosecutor said under current sentencing guidelines the starting point was three years in jail with a range of anywhere between two to five years, depending on mitigating circumstances.

Sentence was postponed until February for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.

Defence barrister Kate Chidgey said Langley, who was granted bail until the next hearing, was suffering from anxiety and depression.

Judge Heather Norton gave her an interim driving ban adding: “A custodial sentence is virtually inevitable in this case and you should prepare yourself for that eventuality.”

Emergency crews, including the air ambulance, had attended the scene of the tragedy in April and the road was closed for several hours.

Mr Saunders, from Rochester, leaves behind two children, James, 21, and Jess, 19, who is studying at university in Canterbury.

She said after the accident: "I can't thank my dad enough for being the person he was, he always knew the right things to say and how to cheer me up.

"He would call me up randomly during the day and make me laugh. He told silly dad jokes that were so unfunny that they were funny. He never took life too seriously, I think that's how others will remember him too.

"Not a day will go by that I won't think about him and he will be in my heart forever."

She added: "Please look out for motorbikes and always look and think twice so other families don't have to go through the heartbreak we're going through."

Mr Saunders' friend, Sarah Wilson, who was part of the group ride, posted a short tribute on the Kent Bikers Facebook page.

She said: "I passed my Mod 2 [licence] on Wednesday and this was my first group ride to celebrate. It was an amazing day but one of us didn’t go home.