A car driver's "momentary lapse" doing a U-turn led to a crash that claimed the life of a motorcyclist, a court decided yesterday.

Allan Corlett, 44, was thrown from his 1,000cc Suzuki when it collided with a Peugeot 206 on West End, Queensbury, in April last year. He died the next day in hospital.

Car driver Robert Rushforth pleaded not guilty to careless driving but was found guilty by Bradford magistrates at the end of a two-day hearing.

Rushforth, 32, of Albert Road, Queensbury, was also convicted of using a vehicle with illegally-tinted side windows. He was fined a total of £350 with £250 costs and six penalty points but the court decided not to disqualify him.

Passing sentence, bench chairman S M Feeley said: "We feel this was a momentary lapse of concentration by Mr Rushforth, who has a previously unblemished driving record. We feel if Mr Rushforth had maintained diligence throughout the U-turn he would have seen the motorcycle before he did. This falls below the level of a careful and competent driver."

Referring to the attendance in court of members of Mr Corlett's and Rushforth's families, Mr Feeley added: "We have appreciated the presence of both families and the dignity they maintained."

The prosecution had stated that in making a U-turn into the path of the motor-cycle Rushforth had not met the requirements of a competent and careful driver.

But he told the court it was a manoeuvre he had had made four or five times a week for four or five months, so that his car would be facing the right way next morning when he set off to work.

On the day of the crash, he and his girlfriend were returning to her home in Queensbury and he had waited until the lights of a pelican crossing were at red before starting the U-turn.

"I checked my mirrors and started to manoeuvre, constantly looking up and down the road," he said, adding he did not see the motor-cycle until a split-second before impact.

Joanna Butler-Savage, prosecuting, asked: "Are you blaming the motor-cyclist?" He replied: "I don't want to blame anybody I am not pointing the finger at anyone at all."

Nicholas Leadbeater, defending, said there was no evidence the U-turn was in itself unsafe.