A woman who killed 21-year-old Chris Fuller through careless driving has been spared immediate jail as she suffers a fatal and inoperable brain tumour.

Wisbech Standard: Lucy Barham at Norwich Crown Court, who pleaded guilty to death by careless driving, killing Christopher Fuller. PICTURE: Denise BradleyLucy Barham at Norwich Crown Court, who pleaded guilty to death by careless driving, killing Christopher Fuller. PICTURE: Denise Bradley (Image: Archant)

Lucy Barham, 34, killed Mr Fuller on the A1122 Swaffham Road at Fincham, on September 8, last year.

She admitted causing death by careless driving in November of last year after denying dangerous driving.

Sentencing Barham to 20 weeks in jail, suspended for 18 months, Judge Stephen Holt told her “I can see no good to anybody from imposing an immediate custodial sentence.”

The single mother of one, of Russell Close in Downham Market, said she can remember nothing of the collision, which killed Mr Fuller instantly.

Her Citroen had been on the wrong side of the road as it collided with Mr Fuller’s Seat coming in the opposite direction.

Shirley and David Fuller - Chris’ mother and father - both read emotional victim impact statements to Norwich Crown Court.

“The whole family are devastated at the loss of Chris,” said Mrs Fuller. “It is a physical pain which is with us all the time. We are totally heart broken.

“There are no days where there are no tears. We lost a child but also the hopes, dreams and expectations we had of him.

“It breaks our hearts we never got to say goodbye.”

Mr Fuller added: “I lost my future with my son. We shared not only DNA but trust. I lost someone who knew me and what I stood for.

Unless you have lived through this; had your heart pulled out and your world turned over, you do not understand the pain we have had to face.

“The loss of my son will be haunting me until my dying day.”

Mr Fuller, who lived in Three Holes, near Wisbech, leaves behind parents David and Shirley, and siblings James Fuller, Jada Mystic, Melissa Fuller and Sheryl Fuller.

He had been an organ donor, but the damage caused by the accident meant his family were unable to carry out his wishes.

The court also heard Barham had failed to declare her medical condition to the DVLA on three occasions - as medication she had been taking also causes seizures.

“This defendant ought not to have been driving” said prosecutor Stephen Spence. “There is a duty to inform the DVLA of any medical condition that might affect their ability to drive.”

John Farmer, mitigating for Barham, said her “more favourable” prognosis in 2007 gave her an “expectation of life of five to seven years, sometimes 10 to 12.”

“Some time ago a point was reached where future treatment was not possible,” he told the court.

“It is now a fatal, incurable and untreatable condition.”