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cancernurse has been left distraught after being jailed for 18 months for killing a father-of-two in a road collision en route to a funeral, sobbing 'I'm so sorry'.
Biker Alex Humphreys-Lock, 42, died from head injuries after the collision with a VW Touran driven by Mercy Adonu, 47, in Shirley Oaks, Croydon on June 26 last year.
CCTV footage showed how Mr-Humphreys Lock was thrown from his motorcycle after colliding with the bonnet of Adonu's car, when she moved to the wrong side of the road to turn right.
She collapsed in tears as the sentence was announced, whilst a family member fell to the floor in the public gallery, and sobbed hysterically.
The mother-of-three was on her way to the funeral of a close family member and was dressed in 'mourning clothes' when she struck Mr Humphreys' motorcycle, reports Central News.
Charlotte Hole, prosecuting, said: "Deborah Marks was the driver of a silver Honda.
"Ms Marks drove along Woodmere Avenue and she was intending to turn right into Gladeside.
"As Mr Humphreys' motorcycle passed her, Ms Marks and her passenger heard what they described as a loud thud."
The court heard Adonu had driven on to the wrong side of the road to make the turn and into the path of Mr Humphrey-Lock.
Ms Hole continued: "Mr Humphreys on his motorcycle steered to avoid the defendant's Touran but lost control of the motorcycle and it fell to the nearside, sliding along the road before being in collision with the Touran.
"The defendant's vehicle was likely to have been travelling at an average speed of 28-35mph and so in excess of the speed limit, which was 20mph in that area.
"In the moments before the collision, the motorcycle is likely to have been travelling at 36-42mph, so again in excess of the 20mph speed limit."
Onlookers rushed to help but despite attempts to revive him, Mr Humphreys was pronounced dead at the scene just before 6.45pm.
At interview, Adonu claimed she believed the car in front of her had pulled over so decided to turn right 'a bit earlier'.
She said she could not see any oncoming traffic, but later plead guilty to one count of causing death by dangerous driving.
Supported by her daughter, Mr Humphrey's mother, Lorraine Lock, read a statement to the court.
She said: "Alex was there with me from the very start of my adult life, at the age of 21.
"Before I met my husband, before I got married, before I went on to have two more children, David and Charlotte and before his dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
"Their dad passed away in '87. Alex was 9, David was 6 and Charlotte was 20 months old.
"I raised my children alone as a one-parent family from that moment to this day.
"As a one-parent family, you have a strong bond with your children.
"You are their mum and their dad, rolled into one.
"The world keeps turning but I am mentally, physically, emotionally drained.
"I will not ever get over my son's death, even on days where my grief is dawning, the pain is still lurking just beneath the surface."
Coming to the end of her statement, Ms Lock looked at Adonu from the witness box and said: "Where is he?"
Mr Humphrey's sister, Charlotte, was the first on the scene and had the grim task of identifying her brother's body.
She said she 'was proud to be his little sister' and that the 'pain and devastation will live with her forever'.
David, Mr Humphrey's brother said: "No sentence passed to those responsible for my brother's death will ever heal my heart.
"Thank God we have his two beautiful children to continue his legacy."
Adonu wept as the statements were read.
Paul Rogers, for Adonu, said: "Nothing that I can say or do on behalf of Ms Adonu which will ever make better what she did.
"That will ever convey...how very sorry she is for what she did, for taking their loved family member away.
"I can't make that better.
"She can't make that better.
"This court cannot make that better.
"The only thing she can do is apologise, and it sounds small and empty and pointless, but it's all she can do.
"While she seeks forgiveness every day, in her prayers, the hardest thing will be for her to forgive herself."
Adonu has no previous convictions and has never been in trouble before the incident.
Passing sentence, Judge Angela Rafferty QC said: "I want to make it very clear that the sentence that I pass cannot adequately reflect the loss in this case.
"It is completely incapable of calculation and it's lifelong for those who are left behind."
Addressing Adonu directly, Judge Rafferty said: "As a result of you making a dangerous manoeuvre that you could have avoided, Mr Humphreys lost his life.
"There was no good reason to make that manoeuvre.
"It created a clear risk of danger and you moved into the path of Mr Alex Humphreys.
"I take into account that Mr Humphreys too was riding his bike at speed and it was not the kind of bike that is permitted on public roads.
"He was, in my view, a vulnerable road user for whom you had complete disregard.
"A man has lost his life due to the dangerousness of your driving."
Adonu, of Rowdown Crescent, New Addington, received 18 months in prison.
She was also disqualified from driving for four years, subject to an extended re-test.
