A SURGEON with two previous convictions for speeding walked free from court on Wednesday after he admitted causing death by careless driving.

A jury at Hereford Crown Court took just 35 minutes to return a unanimous not guilty verdict for a charge of causing death by dangerous driving on Robert Padwick.

He admitted the lesser charge of causing death by careless driving and will be sentenced in three weeks. Padwick killed 60-year-old Anne Morris, of Coddington, near Malvern, in an 80mph crash on a country lane as he dashed home to see his pregnant wife.

Speaking after the trial, Anne Morris’ daughter Jackie Robery, 39, expressed outrage at the verdict.

She said: “I am so upset. He killed her because he was speeding way too fast.”

Padwick, aged 34, lost control of his red Ford Focus and ploughed into Mrs Morris’ white Honda travelling in the opposite direction.

The grandmother-of-nine was killed instantly. Padwick broke his femur.

He had just come off a night shift at Hereford County Hospital when he collided with Mrs Morris on Friday, March 6, 2009 on the A4103 near Ledbury.

During Padwick’s evidence, several members of Mrs Morris’ family burst into tears.

Padwick told the jury: “I thought long and hard about the crash every day for the last two years. It never leaves me.”