A chef who killed a mother of four when he jumped a red light in his BMW sports car has been jailed for a year.

But Daniel Ayton will be released after serving half his sentence for causing the death of Edna Linton.

The sentence was condemned as "sick" by her husband Robert.

He stormed out of the public gallery at Hove Crown Court after seeing Ayton jailed and banned from driving for three years.

Mr Linton said as he left court: "Six months for my wife's life. That is just sick."

Ayton, a former head chef at the Old Ship Hotel, Brighton, went through a red light in his BMW Z3 sports car.

It hit Mrs Linton, 49, as she crossed Lewes Road, Moulsecoomb, with her dog Alfie.

She died from her injuries after the collision on February 21, 2005. Alfie also died.

Ayton, of Pellbrook Road, Lewes, at first denied causing death by dangerous driving.

But he changed his plea to guilty after being shown CCTV footage of what happened.

The jury was told Ayton had undertaken a number of cars in the left-hand lane.

Conditions had been treacherous, with snow and ice on the road.

A van had stopped at the red lights as Ayton approached the pedestrian crossing near Moulsecoomb Way. Witnesses said instead of slowing down as the lights changed he kept going and hit Mrs Linton as she stepped out past the van.

Her 16-year-old twin daughters were among the first at the scene after hearing sirens from their home in Moulsecoomb Way.

Ayton had no previous convictions and a clean driving licence until the collision, the court heard when he was sentenced yesterday.

Tony Loder, defending, said expert evidence appeared to show Mrs Linton had started to cross the road before the red light for pedestrians changed to green.

Mr Loder said: "His recollection was that as he approached the crossing the light was amber and he never saw the light change to red.

"He decided and made the now fatal decision not to attempt to brake because of the weather conditions.

"He clearly misjudged the length of time the lights were amber and now accepts that he clearly must have gone through a red light.

"He has got to live with this for the rest of his life. That he caused the death of an individual as a result of one moment of misjudgment.

"This was not someone who approached red traffic lights and deliberately decided to drive through them.

"He was driving through an amber light which changed on him and a moment of horror followed.

"He made every attempt to avoid the accident by swerving one way and then the other.

"If the dog had not been in the road ahead of Mrs Linton it may not be that he struck her as he swerved to avoid it.

"That is in no way intended to cast blame on her but it perhaps explains why the accident happened with the tragic consequences we now know about."

Mr Loder said Ayton had shown genuine remorse and had since lost his job as a chef.

Judge Charles Kemp said he had read a "very moving letter"

from Mr Linton about the impact of his wife's death on their family.

He added: "Nothing I can do can bring that lady back or compensate for the appalling loss to her family.

"I accept that this was a momentary but tragic and dreadful lapse of judgement by you.

"But the offence is so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified."