A driver believed to be texting on his phone when he “wiped out” a beloved husband travelling to work on his motorcycle has been jailed for three years.

A judge told Stephen Rawlinson he was distracted by composing or sending a message to his grandmother when he hit and fatally injured Nigel Earnshaw on Saltaire Roundabout.

“Even the time to text eight characters is the time it takes to kill a man,” Judge Jonathan Rose said when he sentenced Rawlinson at Bradford Crown Court yesterday.

Rawlinson, 26, of Upper Grange Avenue, Allerton, Bradford, was convicted by a jury of causing Mr Earnshaw’s death by dangerous driving at 10.30pm on September 5 last year.

The father-of-three was seen driving his Ford Focus at speed along Saltaire Road seconds before it struck Mr Earnshaw’s Honda 125cc machine.

He told the police and the jury he could not understand how he failed to see the motorcycle.

Mr Earnshaw, a rugby enthusiast who was driving to work a night shift at Hallmark Cards in Bradford, died in hospital 18 days later. He suffered a fractured ankle and developed a fatal deep vein thrombosis.

He was riding within the speed limit and had right of way on the roundabout.

Judge Rose said Rawlinson was “a good, loving, and supportive father”, well-respected by members of his church community.

He was burdened by mental illness and had shown remorse.

Mr Earnshaw and his wife, Susan, were teenage sweethearts married for 38 years.

The stalwart of Cleckheaton Rugby Club served as Grand Master of the Grand Society Order of the Oddfellows for two years and worked for good causes throughout his life. He and his wife were charity fundraisers.

Judge Rose said Mrs Earnshaw “suffered a daily loneliness” since the death of her husband. She had been deprived of the friend, companion and breadwinner she expected to spend her latter years with.

The judge told Rawlinson, who was on his way to pick up his grandmother: “There was an arrogance in your driving that night. You were driving too fast for the road, for the circumstances, too fast to respect other road users.”

Judge Rose said Rawlinson was composing a short text to his grandmother at the wheel of his car, telling her to be ready when he arrived.

“You just wiped out the machine and the man who was upon it,” Judge Rose said.

He banned Rawlinson from driving for four years and ordered him to take an extended re-test before he gets back behind a wheel.

After the case, PC Robert Hampshire, of West Yorkshire Police Western Area Roads Policing Unit, told the Telegraph & Argus: “It has been a harrowing week for the family and, thankfully, common sense has prevailed with the jury. A just verdict has been received.

“The sentence is somewhat irrelevant to Mrs Earnshaw, however, the Rawlinsons still have a son. Mrs Earnshaw no longer has a husband.”

Mr Earnshaw was born in Keighley and still lived in the area. He had worked in the warehouse at Hallmark Greeting Cards for more than ten years.