THE wife of the head of Stannah Stairlifts has been spared jail for killing a motorcyclist after she failed to stop her Land Rover Discovery at a ‘dangerous junction’.

A court heard Andrea Stannah, 45, had dropped her children off at school and was heading back to the family’s £1million home when she pulled across a dual carriageway.

Failing to spot motorcyclist Steven Rayner, the 4x4 ploughed straight into him, sending the 53-year-old civil engineer careering into a tree and a fence.

The court heard a distraught Stannah, who is married to Nicholas Stannah, managing director of Stannah Stairlifts Ltd, had to be ‘dragged away’ from Mr Rayner’s prone body as she desperately tried to assist him.

The father-of-two, a highly-regarded structural engineer who had worked in the Middle East, Hong Kong and Malaysia, died at the scene.

Web designer Stannah, who attended court with her husband, admitted a charge of causing death by driving without due care and attention.

It was heard Mr Rayner’s death was due to her ‘inattention’ at the junction on the A31, less than a mile from her home in Ovington, and her failure to spot his motorcycle as she turned right.

Prosecutor Kerry Richardson told Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court that witnesses driving on the carriageway in July last year braked to avoid Stannah’s green 4x4 as it pulled out into the road, and saw the bike collide with its front near-side wing.

One – named only as Mr Goode – had been driving a delivery truck which was overtaken by Mr Rayner before he pulled back into the left lane of the carriageway.

Ms Richardson said: “The bike was cruising, but certainly wasn’t going fast.

“Mr Goode saw a green 4x4 in the middle of the two carriageways.

“He could see what was going to happen. The bike had nowhere to go.”

Mrs Tailford-East, who was driving a Vauxhall Corsa in the right-hand lane, said she had to brake heavily to avoid Stannah’s Land Rover.

In a statement read to the court, she said: “The 4x4 was travelling through the junction. As it came closer to the carriageway I was aware it was not going to stop.

“I had to apply my brakes heavily...“The 4x4 did not react to my presence. I knew if I did not brake I would have hit the side of the car.

“I do not know if the driver knew I was there or not.”

Ms Richardson added:“Not only did Mrs Stannah miss the motorcycle in lane one, but two larger vehicles in lane two.”

Stannah’s lawyer, Alex Stein, told the court: “The defendant accepts fully she made an error in assessing Mrs Tailford-East’s speed.

“As Mrs Tailford-East is proceeding, the bike continues to be, rather tragically, hidden from view.

Mr Stein said his client had been traumatised by the crash and was“extremely remorseful”.

Sentencing Stannah to eight weeks in jail suspended for 12 months and ordering her to pay £200, District Judge Timothy Pattinson said: “All cases of causing death by careless driving are tragic.

“This case is particularly tragic, involving the death of a family man with wife and children. The court extends its deepest sympathy to the family of Mr Rayner.

“I am left in no doubt that this is more serious than a case of momentary inattention.”

The judge added: “The presence of Mrs Tailford-East’s vehicle in lane two, the overtaking lane, should have alerted her to the possibility of a vehicle being in lane one which might have been obscured from her view.”

Mr Rayner’s wife Marie, from Sparsholt, near Winchester, said: “Losing Steve in the tragic accident was devastating for the girls and I and our lives will never be the same again.”

Steve Miles, who worked with Mr Rayner at Hampshire consulting engineers Upton McGougan said: “Steve was a very talented structural engineer who was highly regarded by his colleagues and the many professionals and contractors we worked with down the years.

“His presence in the construction industry will be very sorely missed.”