A woman whose careless driving caused the death of a cherished father and husband has been jailed.

Carlisle Crown Court has heard a heartbreaking account of the profound and lasting emotional impact of the death of Alan Schofield in the accident in November last year.

Chelsea Maria McLeish, 26, whose eight year old daughter was in the car with her, crashed into the 57-year-old as he and his son were pushing a trailer filled with logs along the edge of the A6071 near Irhtington, between Brampton and Longtown.

Mr Schofield was confirmed dead at the scene, while his son Andrew suffered serious injuries but survived. McLeish, whose car had been uninsured for two months at the time, later pleaded guilty to causing death by careles driving.

Kim Whittlestsone, prosecuting, said that on the day of the tragedy a man and a woman whose vehicle was overtaken on the A6071 by McLeish's VW Golf were concerned by the speed of her car as it passed them.

The accident happened just after 4.30pm as Mr Schofield and his son Andrew were pushing the trailer full of logs towards the family's home beside the road.

The court heard that at the time is was dusk and the defendant, of Bellsfield, Longtown, was driving at an estimated 62mph, according a police expert assessment.

There was a suggestion that McLeish was distracted momentarily immediately before the crash.

The defendant's WhatsApp function on her phone was activated just before the collision but the judge accepted there was no evidence she was using the phone.

Before he passed sentence, Judge James Adkin was given a detailed account of how Mr Schofield's grieving family had been affected by the tragedy.

In her statement, Mr Schofield's daughter Clare said: "This year has left us shocked and numbed to the core, and fumbling through our lives without any guidance.

"Dad was our glue, our driving force and our happiness. He held our family together. ...Now all I feel is anger. He has been ripped away needlessly and carelessly."

Mark Shepherd, for McLeish, said she had shown true remorse and offered a sincere apology to the Schofield family, and she had been assessed as posing a low risk of reoffending. "It's been the most stressful thing she's ever experienced in her life," added the lawyer.

Passing sentence, Judge Adkin said that nobody could fail to be moved by the moving personal impact statement of the dead man's widow Kathryn, and those from her and Mr Schofield's adult children.

He referred to the defendant's previous convictions, including one for driving while using a phone and one for perverting the course of justice by inventing a false alibi for a man accused of an assault.

The conviction for using a phone while driving suggested she was somebody who had little regard for the welfare of other road users, said the judge.

Accepting that she had shown remorse, the judge told the defendant: "The focus of this case has to be on your responsibility and your blameworthiness, and on the terrible harm you caused...

"You should have been paying careful attention to what you were doing. Even the slightest inattention at 62mph can have devastating consequences, as this case so tragically shows."

He imposed a one year jail term, with a three year driving ban which will begin from the point of the defendant's release from custody on licence after six months.

McLeish will have to pass and extended retest before she can drive again unaccompanied.