A 59-year-old truck driver has been cleared of causing the death of a woman motorcyclist by dangerous driving.

Brian Chestnutt was instead convicted of careless driving - a charge he had admitted but was rejected by the Crown.

Chestnutt, of Rushford Close, Headcorn, near Maidstone, was fined £2,000 and banned from driving for a year.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that Lynda Bridgland, 47, died under the wheels of the 7.5 tonne Iveco truck in the accident near Smarden.

Cairns Nelson, prosecuting, said Chestnutt had driven “perfectly sensibly and carefully” seconds before tragedy on April 22 last year. But his truck was mainly on the wrong side of the road when it collided with Lynda Bridgland’s Triumph motorbike.

Chestnutt, an experienced driver with a clean driving licence, was heading away from Smarden on Biddenden Road and Mrs Bridgeland was coming in the opposite direction.

Chestnutt overtook a pony and trap at about 25mph on the straight road that had a gentle bend in it.

As Mrs Bridgland, of Hook Stead, High Halden, near Tenterden, came round the bend in the opposite direction, travelling within the speed limit at about 52mph, she found the truck on her side of the road.

“She tried to steer her bike into the other carriageway to get out of the way,” the prosecutor said.

“Very sadly, she went under the lorry. The motorbike carried on with the driver down the side of the lorry. She died, almost certainly, instantly.

Chestnutt, formerly of Cheeselands, Biddenden, denied causing death by dangerous driving.

He told police after the accident that the motorcycle was going “so bloody fast” before the crash.

Chestnutt said in evidence he had been driving all day, delivering metal sheets. He had been to his last job and was going back to the yard about half a mile away.

“I was in no particular hurry,” he said. “I regard myself as a safe driver, having passed RAC tests.”

He said of the accident: “I saw this pony and trap. I decided it was safe to overtake on that stretch. I saw the motorcycle when I was moving in. There was room to overtake. I was overcautious, as it was a pony and trap.

“I moved in before the kerb. The lorry was in the middle of the road. I saw the bike coming to the near side, so I kept out. I saw it coming towards me. It was going very fast.

“The motorcycle wavered. I was undecided. I stayed where I was in the lane. I felt a thud. I got out of the vehicle. I was in shock. I could have pulled in earlier, but because of the horse and carriage…if it had been a motor vehicle I would have pulled in earlier."

He agreed he was “on the wrong side of the road on the bend” and that he should have pulled in earlier.

“I accept I made an error of judgement but don’t accept it was particularly dangerous,” he said.

When he made the decision to overtake the pony and trap he could not see what was around the bend coming towards him.

“On reflection, I should not have overtaken when I did,” he said. “It is difficult to say whether it was a little bit dangerous.”

The jury was out for two-and-a-half hours before returning the verdict.

James Cartwright, defending, urged the court not to disqualify Chestnutt so that he could continue his employment.

Judge Stephen Robbins told Chestnutt: “You have now expressed your remorse. This was an error of judgement on your part, which led to a tragic result, which is entirely out of character for you.

“Nothing this court can say can echo the immense grief felt by the family. The fact is that you have been found guilty of the lesser offence of careless driving.”