Teacher Rosemary Fenney died instantly of head and chest injuries

Trainee paramedic Ian Fitzgerald, from Trowbridge, Wiltshire, was found guilty of the lesser charge after a crash in which a woman motorist died.

The 29-year-old denied killing 40-year-old Rosemary Fenney while answering an emergency call in Newbury, Berkshire, last October.

Sentencing Fitzgerald at Reading Crown Court, Judge Christopher Compston called for better training for paramedics after hearing that they were given just a couple of hours driving in simulated emergency situations.

Fitzgerald, who was working for the Berkshire Ambulance Service, drove through a red light at an estimated 35mph before hitting the side of Ms Fenney's car.

'Driving like a nutcase'

The impact forced the school teacher's Peugeot 203 across the A4 London Road and into a lamp post.

She died instantly from head and chest injuries.

A witness told the court during the trial that Fitzgerald had been "driving like a nutcase" in the moments before the crash.

Fitzgerald, who had qualified as an ambulance driver six months earlier, claimed he had only been in second gear, travelling no more than 20 to 25mph.

During his training, he was told to treat red lights like give-way signs and stop if necessary.

Ambulance drivers have exemption from the Road Traffic Act.

A jury of seven women and four men took just under two hours to return their verdict last month.