A woman motorist wept in court as she was sentenced for causing a biker's death through careless driving.

David Parkinson suffered fatal injuries when he came off his green Kawasaki Ninja ZX6 motorcycle at a junction near Burton on the Wolds at just after 11am on Sunday, August 2 , last year.

Mr Parkinson, 51, of Sileby, who was married with a grown-up daughter, was returning from a morning ride to Matlock, in the Peak District, when the tragedy happened.

Susan Ward, 57, of Harrison Street, Derby, was edging her Fiat Punto out of a junction to turn right from the B676 Loughborough Road in to Nottingham Road, when she failed to see the motorbike.

It is not thought the car and bike made contact.

Some minor damage on the Punto may have been caused by flying debris upon the arrival of the air ambulance, the court heard.

Mr Parkinson, who worked as a lorry driver, braked hard to take evasive action as Ward's car pulled out in front of him and he came off the Kawasaki.

Ward, who admitted causing death by careless driving, was sentenced to a 12-month community order, with supervision, and was banned from driving for a year.

She will also have to pay £400 costs.

Michael Auty, prosecuting, told Leicester Crown Court that Mr Parkinson was travelling perfectly properly along Nottingham Road at about 57mph – within the speed limit.

Ward, at the junction, may have been momentarily distracted by a car ahead of the motorbike.

But she should have had a 180m unobscured view of the motorbike for 6.7 seconds.

Mr Auty said: "She may have been distracted by the car passing by moments before she edged out.

"Mr Parkinson may have reacted to that, breaking heavily, and came off and, tragically, it cost him his life."

Mr Auty said that in a victim impact statement Mr Parkinson's wife, Jacqueline, described the loss as "devastating".

He said: "She says just how precious her husband was to her and her daughter Zara and how she was looking forward to what should have been their best years ahead.

"She says he was a fantastic husband, father and son-in-law who got on well with everyone."

Mr and Mrs Parkinson were due to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary shortly after he died.

Judge Simon Hammond said: "It's a ghastly tragedy.

"No sentence I impose can fairly reflect where there's been a loss of life."

The court heard that Ward, a primary school supervisor, had no previous convictions.

She dabbed her eyes with a tissue throughout the hearing.

Caroline Bray, mitigating, said Ward "acutely understood" the loss suffered by the deceased's family, having recently lost her husband to illness.

She said: "Every day since, she's wondered how and why she didn't see Mr Parkinson.

"Her remorse and regret is genuine.

"She's a thoroughly decent, hard-working woman."