Byron Bowman

The family of a cyclist killed in a collision with a car has asked a court to show compassion for the driver.

Howard Owen, 29, ran into Kate Auchterlonie, 28, from Cardiff, as she rode her bicycle on the A469 mountain road near Caerphilly in February.

The judge at Newport Crown Court said her family wanted generosity, which was characteristic of her life.

Owen, of Caerphilly, who had admitted causing death by careless driving, received a suspended prison sentence.

As well as the nine-month suspended sentence, Owen was also banned from driving for two years and given 150 hours' community work.

Owen said he could not explain why he had failed to see Miss Auchterlonie.

The prosecution said he should have had seven seconds in which to see her.

But other drivers had said their vision was affected by strong sun, the court heard.

Hilary Roberts, defending, said Owen, a customs and excise worker from Caerphilly, was not using the sun as an excuse.

He said his client had not driven since the incident and was suffering the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Meeting

Passing sentence, Judge Roderick Denyer said Owen still could not really understand why he did not see Miss Auchterlonie in the road.

There was also some evidence that the sun was making things difficult for motorists at the time, said the judge.

He then referred to a statement by Miss Auchterlonie's family, asking the court to show the compassion and generosity that was characteristic of her life.

The court heard that Victim Support was trying to arrange a meeting between her family and Owen as part of a restorative justice programme.

The judge also praised both families for their dignified silence in court.

A skydiver survived after reportedly falling about 1,000ft onto the roof of an aircraft hangar in Shropshire.

The man's parachute was believed to have malfunctioned and he was found in Higher Heath, Whitchurch, on Friday afternoon, the ambulance service said.

The man, believed to be in his 40s, was flown to University Hospital of North Staffordshire in a stable condition.

He had been treated at the airfield where he landed for potentially-serious head and neck injuries.

An ambulance service spokeswoman said: "The man is reported to have fallen approximately 1,000 feet, spiralling to the ground following a 10,000-foot sky-dive."

The skydiver was immobilised at the scene following the accident just after 1500 BST. He was then airlifted to the University Hospital of North Staffordshire for further assessment and treatment.

A trauma team was on standby at the hospital and had been pre-alerted to the arrival of the man, the spokeswoman confirmed.