A lorry driver whose "brief act of folly" led to the death of a mum-of-two has been jailed for three and a half years.

Bradford Crown Court heard how 32-year-old Stephanie Welsh died after her Renault car was crushed by an articulated lorry on the A65 at Draughton, near Skipton, on January 20.

The lorry driver, Wayne Eccleston, had decided to overtake two cars as they neared a junction, failing to spot that the one driven by Mrs Welsh had stopped in the middle of the road and indicated a right turn.

In the crash that followed the car was pushed along a crash barrier. Mrs Welsh was airlifted to Airedale General Hospital at Steeton, Keighley, where she was employed as a health-care support worker, but died without regaining consciousness.

Eccleston, 23, of Halstead Terrace, Settle, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving. He was also banned from driving for four years and will have to take an extended test before driving again.

Richard Newbury, prosecuting, said Mrs Welsh, of Silsden, had set off on that wet and windy morning to collect a friend from Draughton and take her to hospital for surgery.

Investigations later revealed that Eccleston had been travelling in excess of the 40mph speed limit for such vehicles on that road. A motorist travelling behind him had put his speed at between the high 40s and the low 50s. Expert calculations showed at the time of the collision he was doing 46-47 mph.

Interviewed by police, Eccleston said he had decided to "make a go" of overtaking the two cars in front of him.

Anne White, mitigating, said her client had carried out a "flagrantly dangerous manoeuvre" in breaching the basic rule that drivers should not overtake at junctions, but he was a relatively inexperienced HGV driver and a hard-working young man.

"This was a momentary and brief act of folly," Miss White said.

Judge Robert Bartfield said Eccleston's attention "must have been elsewhere" as he set out to overtake the cars and it was a bad case of dangerous driving. "This young woman lost her life, her husband lost his wife and their two young boys their mother," he added.

"I am quite satisfied there is genuine and serious remorse for what you have done and it will live with you for many years, if not the rest of your life, but in no way can that be compared to the loss that family has suffered."