A saleswoman who was not paying attention when she drove into the back of a moped, killing the 16-year-old rider, has been banned from driving for 15 months and given a £450 fine.

Suzanne Simmons, 51, of Grover Avenue, Lancing, ploughed in to the back of Joshua Skinner as he drove home from work on the A27 on October 10 last year.

She hit him with such force he lost his helmet and died of massive head injuries.

Simmons pleaded not guilty to careless driving but at Worthing Magistrates' Court yesterday, District Judge Roger Ede said there was no doubt in his mind that she had not been paying attention.

Joshua, of White Styles Road, Sompting, was on his way home from a shift at McDonald's in Holmbush at 10.45pm when he was hit while on the westbound carriageway of the Shoreham flyover.

At first Simmons thought she had hit s o m e t h i n g thrown off the bridge and it was only when she stopped her car that she saw Joshua lying in the road.

The court heard Joshua, a Chichester College student, would only use the A27 if traffic was light.

PC Simon Lane was on his way back to Littlehampton when he saw Simmons' car and pulled over.

Simmons, who had been driving home from a dance class, asked him to call an ambulance. She was breathalysed but the result proved negative.

District Judge Ede ordered Simmons to pay £455 costs. He said: "She should have seen him and she was obviously not paying attention to the road."

After the case, Joshua's family paid tribute to "a lovely boy" who loved theatre and wanted to join the Marines.

His mother Paula, 43, said: "I was not interested in the punishment. I just wanted to know someone had made her accountable."

His sister Emma Woolford, 24, said: "He was my baby brother and I loved him very much."