Fury as speeding policeman who killed a mother-of-three is cleared of dangerous driving

A policeman who screamed, 'I'm doomed, that's my career gone' after his motorbike killed a mother in front of her two children was cleared of dangerous driving and fined just £2,000 today.

Pc Damien Myerscough, 42, was off duty and speeding on his untaxed Yamaha motorbike when he ploughed into a car while overtaking a row of vehicles.

The impact sent his bike hurtling throught the air and into mother-of-three Lyndsay Oldham, 43, as she walked along a nearby pavement with two of her children.

IT worker Mrs Oldham who was going on a shopping trip with son David, 17, and 14-year-old Emma after a family birthday meal was hit in the back by the machine and propelled headfirst into a stone wall. She died at the scene.

Emma was thrown onto railings outside the house but escaped serious injury whilst David broke his ankle.

But as shocked onlookers tended to Mrs Oldham and her traumatised children, the constable's first thought was for his own career as a Tactical Aid officer with Greater Manchester Police.

He told one driver who came to help him: 'I'm doomed. Was it my fault? That's it. That's my career gone. I'm a police officer.'

As well as having no road tax, Myerscough's 998cc R1 Yamaha sports bike had a slack chain and was fitted with an illegal exhaust to make its engine sound louder.

Police accident experts later said the officer was travelling between 35 and 45mph in the 30mph zone in the moments before the tragedy on Good Friday last year.

At Bolton Crown Court Myerscough of Ainsworth, near Bury was cleared of causing death by dangerous driving but was convicted of the lesser charge of careless driving.

He was fined £2,000, banned from driving for 12 months and was ordered pay court costs of £1,000. 

Crash cop: Pc Damien Myerscough is still in a wheelchair after the smash left him with a badly broken leg

Passing sentence, Judge Elliot Knopf said: 'No sentence I could pass could put the clock back.

'Nothing I could say, no sentence I could pass, could be seen by Mrs Oldham's family as an adequate response to their tragic loss.'

He added: 'A message must go out to road users that they have an obligation and duty to accept the responsibilities for their driving, to accept that they have duties, and to recognise a duty of care to other road users.'

Pc Peter Woodhams, from Greater Manchester Police, read a statement outside court giving the family's reaction to the sentence.

He said: 'On behalf of Mr Oldham and his family, Sarah, David and Emma, I would like to pass on their thanks to all members of the prosecution and investigation teams.

'On April 6, 2007 Damien Myerscough rode his motorcycle in a way which the family regards as stupid and pointless.

Poignant: A note left at the scene of the accident in April last year

'The collision that followed was completely avoidable.

'Myerscough, upon his own admission, was travelling in excess of the speed limit whilst overtaking cars in an area specifically marked to keep vehicles apart.

'Mrs Oldham was killed in front of David and Emma, both of whom were left injured at the road side.

'Whatever sentence Myerscough received today from the court, it will never compare to the lives that have been ruined by this wholly avoidable tragedy.'

He added: 'The family have suffered greatly from the first day of this and to be quite honest it's still continuing.'

When asked if the family feel they have got justice, he replied: "No, not at all."

Greater Manchester Police confirmed that Myerscough would face 'internal disciplinary proceedings'.