A WOMAN accused of killing a Llandysul teacher by careless driving has been cleared of the charge.

Laura Matthews-James, 35, of Penygroes, near Ammanford, was seven months pregnant at the time of the crash and subsequently lost her unborn child, Swansea Crown Court heard this week.

Matthews-James’ Fiat 500 was in a collision with the car of Robert Hitchcock, 54, from Dôl-llan Road, Llandysul, on 26 February last year on the B4300 at Llanarthne between Carmarthen and Llandeilo.

Swansea Crown Court heard she had no memory of the crash on the B4300 and denied taking a risk by overtaking.

She had denied causing death by driving without due care and attention.

Matthews-James, a biomedical scientist, had been on her way to work when the crash happened.

Mr Hitchcock was killed instantly and she was airlifted to hospital where doctors discovered her baby had died and she had an emergency Caesarean section.

Defence barrister Ignatius Hughes QC read out a statement from a psychologist who said Ms Matthew-James had been left in a “fragile and stressed” emotional state.

The week-long trial heard Matthews-James crashed after overtaking two other vehicles as she headed to work at Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen.

“In doing so she lost control of her vehicle and collided, head on, with an oncoming car which was being driven by Mr Hitchcock,” said prosecutor Jim Davies.

During the trial the jury heard that the defendant had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder following the combination of the crash and losing her unborn son. The statement by a psychologist said: “She has said she doesn’t want to bring a child into the world because in her words ‘I’ve killed my baby’.”

The jury in the trial found Matthews-James not guilty of driving without due care and attention.