A FAMILY mourning a much-loved mother killed in crash caused by a careless driver has been forced to endure further agony after what an enraged judge described as an "unfathomable" penny-pinching measure.

Christine Watson's relatives must wait weeks to see justice served after a deputy district judge, sitting at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates Court refused to sanction a probation report on the background of a young man facing jail for a serious charge.

It was said in court the step was taken to save money - but it has ended up costing far more, with a delay in the case, extra lawyers' fees and tears among those involved.

Jeremy Cheung, of Moray Close, Darlington, had been facing sentence at Teesside Crown Court after earlier pleading guilty to a charge of causing death by careless driving.

Mother-of-two Christine Watson, of Hurworth, died after a head-on collision on the A167 Croft Road, near Darlington in November.

Cheung, 23, driving a White Mercedes C220 car crashed into a white Citroen Berlingo van, in which Mrs Watson was a passenger and her partner, David Graham, 65, suffered serious injuries, including a dislocated hip, a broken femur and broken ribs.

After her death, her daughter, Hayley Watson, said her mother had "touched so many people's lives" and "lived for her children".

In court, there was a man walking with the aid of a stick, who sat in the front row of the public gallery alongside Mrs Watson's daughter.

She had arrived with a victim personal statement and fortified herself to read it to court, but wept as the judge said he had no option but to adjourn the case.

He had previously appeared at the magistrates court to confess to the crime, but the judge there said a pre-sentence report was unnecessary.

It appears it was assumed the 23-year-old would face no option but be locked up, and the £250 cost of commissioning a report would be wasted, but the decision left one of the country's most senior judges fuming.

Judge Simon Bourne-Arton, QC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, said his judicial counterpart had made an "unwise" decision, and ordered an investigation.

Judge Bourne-Arton then apologised to the families of the victim and the defendant, who both packed the public gallery in the hope of seeing the case close.

He said: "I am very, very sorry, but I hope you understand. I can see the impact this has had on everybody. I am deeply sorry about this.

"It's the result of someone making a very bad decision. I'll take steps to find out why. It's down to someone misguidedly considering costs are more important than justice.

"A decision was taken, unwisely in my judgement, by a district judge not to order a pre-sentence report. I fail to understand why that decision was made."

Cheung will return to court on September 4 to be sentenced. He faces a sentencing range from a "high level" community order to jail, but without a probation report, the judge was unable to decide, he said.

His barrister, Mark Styles, said Cheung and his family had arrived at court, expecting and hoping the case would be dealt with.

Judge Bourne-Arton added: "Even if an immediate custodial sentence is inevitable, the length of that sentence can be determined by a pre-sentence report. This is a young man with no previous convictions.

"Members of the family of the deceased will have come here expecting, quite reasonably, to have closure in this case. I would have expected to have fulfilled that wish.

"I hope you understand why it is important for justice to be done, and that I have all the information available on this young man, who is responsible for the tragedy.

"I have to consider the degree of culpability, the level of his fault, and as far as you are concerned, the consequences of that fault.

"I am not prepared to sentence a young man with no previous convictions without knowing more about him. I need a pre-sentence report so I do know more about him.

"It may be that a sentence of immediate imprisonment is inevitable, but the length of that sentence can be determined by what I know about his background."

"There is a standard process which, to an extent, is understandable, in order to save costs, when the justices consider they do not have adequate powers, therefore, assume the sentence is inevitable.

"It's not inevitable. Even if an immediate custodial sentence is inevitable, the length of that sentence can be determined by a pre-sentence report."