A 27-year-old car driver who killed a motorcyclist as he overtook another car has been jailed for a year.

The motorist, Simon Brown, desperately tried to save the life of bike rider Andrew Tate after the crash but he was dead before he could reach hospital.

Brown was told by a judge that although the result of his driving was horrifying, it was a momentary misjudgement.

The plumbing operations manager admitted causing the death of family man Mr Tate by dangerous driving.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that Brown was driving from his home in Pembury to work in Maidstone when the tragedy happened on the A26 near Teston on January 6.

Andrew Rodger, prosecuting, said Brown was second in a queue of cars on a two-lane single carriage way road.

Witnesses described how Mr Tate, 49, was riding his Triumph Daytona in the opposite direction at a normal speed of under 60 mph.

The victim was travelling from his home in Marion Crescent, Maidstone, to Paddock Wood to work. He had been a quantity surveyor there for 20 years.

Mr Rodger said the driver travelling behind Mr Tate, a careful and experienced motorcyclist, was appalled as events unfolded.

Brown’s Audi A3 overtook the car in front of him, despite the "clear presence" of Mr Tate. The car swerved to try to avoid Mr Tate, but there was a collision.

The prosecutor said an expert made it clear that it would not have been dangerous to overtake at that point if there had not been any traffic coming in the other direction.

Brown told police that he was travelling along the Tonbridge Road and saw the motorcycle as he overtook.

Mr Rodger told Judge David Croft, QC: "The impact of the loss of Mr Tate to his family need not be spelled out. He was a happy family man. His loss is hard to calculate."

Carwyn Cox, defending, said it was Brown, now of Portland Close, Sevenoaks, who called the emergency services and administered first aid to Mr Tate.

"He has shown genuine shock and remorse," he said. "Every time he sees a motorbike, he has a flashback about the accident. He has received counselling.

"He now avoids driving. As a result, he has lost his job. He has become withdrawn and ended up in debt. He has moved back to his parents’ house."

Mr Cox said Brown was deeply concerned that such a tragedy did not happen again and wanted the court to refer the matter to the highways authority.

Judge Croft told Brown there was "much mitigation" in the matter, but prison was inevitable.

"You yourself have suffered considerably," he said. "But, of course, what you have also done is kill someone and destroyed a family.

"The deceased was a hard-working man, a loving husband and a loving father. We have your remorse, which is genuine, unlike some who seem to express remorse but are expressing self-pity."

Judges, he said, always found it difficult to sentence in such cases, as human life could not be restored or measured by the length of a sentence.

Brown was also banned from driving for two years.