The family of a motorcyclist who died in a crash in Powys asked a judge not to jail the driver who killed him.
Clifford Dunn, who turned 74 on Thursday, was travelling home from a camping trip in mid Wales when he collided into 67-year-old Paul Bush while turning into a layby on the opposite side of the A44 in Llandegley near Crossgates at around 10.30am on August 17, 2023.
Judge Jeremy Jenkins sentenced the ex-RAF sergeant from Gloucester to 24 weeks in prison which is suspended for 12 months after pleading guilty to causing death by careless driving.
"It was in any view of it, an absolute tragedy," he said.
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"I say to the family, no sentence I can pass can begin to address the awful sense of loss and grief you have suffered and neither it's meant to. The loss of life cannot be measured by length of a prison sentence."
In a moving statement read out in court, Andrew Bush said his brother was a "tower of strength" and that there is now a "gaping hole in our family".
Addressing Mr Dunn, he said the family has no anger or bitterness towards him that he is "100 per cent forgiven".
"Your life is not defined by what has happened," he said. "We hope mercy will be shown to you. None of us want you to go to prison. It will achieve nothing."
Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard that both Mr Dunn and Mr Bush were travelling within the speed limit in opposite directions, but a "last minute decision" by the driver to indicate into a layby - described by the judge as a "catastrophic error of judgement" - which resulted in the motorcyclist hitting a vehicle before being driven over by another car.
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Despite everybody's best efforts, Mr Bush died at the scene from his chest injuries.
Judge Jenkins added: "I have to say to pay tribute to a magnanimous and sensitive tribute by Andrew Bush the deceased's brother who has summed up perfectly this awful tragedy and how careful we must and continue to be when we are behind the wheel of a vehicle.
"The loss of life in this tragic incident is too serious other than a custodial sentence."
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