A woman who caused another driver’s death when a mattress fell from her car roof is to be spared a jail sentence.

Rebecca Miller was in the process of moving home as the double mattress was dislodged from her Peugeot 2008 SUV on the busy A229 dual carriageway at Blue Bell Hill.

The mattress landed in the outside lane and in the path of retired security guard Clive Mauger’s Peugeot 206, Maidstone Crown Court heard.

He was unable to swerve out of the way and his car clipped the mattress, careered off the road and hit a tree.

The 69-year-old grandfather, who was travelling at about 60mph, was killed instantly.

Miller, a prison officer from Aylesford, told police she would not have driven if she had had any concerns about the load, which was held on by five “bungee” cords.

She was doing about 50 to 55mph on the southbound carriageway when she heard a loud crack. She pulled over and saw the victim crash.

Prosecutor Richard Hearnden said Miller’s vision was not obscured and there was no evidence she was speeding.

"Pure and simple, this was a case of a load coming off her car,” he said.

“The prosecution say she didn't drive with due care and attention because she ought not to have driven at all with the load secured in the way it was.

"Alternatively, she should have been driving considerably slower - perhaps even on a different route and not on a fast road."

Miller, 39, denied causing death by dangerous driving and her guilty plea to causing death by careless driving was accepted.

Adjourning sentence until Wednesday – Miller’s 40th birthday - Judge Julian Smith indicated he would suspend a prison sentence.

It was poor decision making, he said, that caused the fatal crash.

The court heard the accident happened at just after 4.30pm on January 30 last year when it was light and the conditions were dry.

The mattress was over-hanging the front of her vehicle when she left. A neighbour who helped her secure the load had reservations about it but was reassured when she indicated she was not driving far.

“As she drove along the A229 just south of the M2 motorway the mattress came off the roof,” said Mr Hearnden. “A witness described it as almost flipping back.

"Two other drivers manoeuvred around the mattress but Mr Mauger was unable to avoid the collision.

"He swerved to the left but caught the corner of the mattress and this caused him to spin across the other lane towards the edge of the road.

"Sadly, his car collided with a tree and he was killed instantly."

The dad-of-four, from Chatham, and was on his way to visit a friend at the time.

Miller, who has served in the armed forces, admitted she did not check the bungee cords herself.

"She did grab the mattress and it didn't move so she thought it was fastened safely and securely," said Mr Hearnden.

Simon Taylor, defending, said although she relied on her neighbour's help to secure the mattress, the bungee grip had failed.

Miller had been a prison officer for 15 years but she was suspended when charged. She is now expected to lose her job.