A NOVICE driver who killed a grandmother as he sped through residential streets has dodged prison.

Hamza Bashir, 20, as given a suspended 32-week jail sentence and banned from the roads for two years.

The engineering student, from Middlesbrough, was also ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid community work.

Mother-of-two Linda Warren, 60, died after being hit by a Hyundai on Saltersgill Avenue in October 2014.

Teesside Crown Court heard today (Monday, February 22) that Bashir was driving at 30mph in the 20mph area on the tea-time.

Mrs Warren, who had seven grandchildren, was going to the shops to buy cake-making ingredients for them.

Bashir failed to brake when she stepped into the road, and did not do so until after the collision.

Prosecutor Richard Bennett said a number of people reported seeing him speeding, and one called him an idiot.

Even if he had been driving at 20mph, he still might not have been able to stop, but the lower speed might have resulted in Mrs Warren surviving, the court heard.

Kieran Rainey, mitigating, said Bashir had passed his test a year and ten months before the tragedy, and was inexperienced.

He added: "He deeply regrets this and will for the rest of his life. He has asked me to apologise to the family in open court.

"He knows his words cannot have any effect here today, or may not have an effect going forward."

The court heard Mrs Warren was a “very popular figure” in the community who worked as a chef at a local care home where she organised charity events.

Mr Bennett described her as "the kind of person who would do anything for anyone" and said she “doted over her grandchildren”.

Her daughter-in-law Sarah Warren read out a victim personal statement, and told the court: “The hole that has been left through Linda’s death has been terrible.

“I have never had to experience grief like we have gone through since Linda was ran over.”

Her son Glen said in a statement: “Our children hate us going out now, they think were not going to come back. We feel like we have been robbed of our mam and nan.”

A letter from Bashir’s father, which was read to the court, said: “We are devastated for the family, losing a loved one is a terrible thing, our hearts go out to the family.

“It’s very distressing to us to know we can offer no comfort at all.”

Judge Howard Crowson told Bashir that he wanted him to think of Mrs Warren for every hour he does his unpaid work because she was such a pillar of the community.

"A sentence in these cases can never measure against a loss of life," the judge said. "Mrs Warren's family will grieve for her and will miss her, but you, too, will spend a lifetime carrying the responsibility for the loss of life."

Bashir, of Glenfield Drive, Middlesbrough, admitted a charge of causing death by careless driving.