A SUFFOLK teenager who caused a crash which left a motorist injured just six months after he was cleared of causing the death of a 61-year-old woman by dangerous driving has escaped an immediate custodial sentence.

Jake Strowger, 19, of Theberton, was driving along the B1078 on June 13 at 6.30am at the junction with Drabs Lane, Clopton, when his Peugeot van veered across the road into the path of a Smart car driven by 32-year-old Michaela Phair.

Strowger admitted dangerous driving and was given a four-month custodial sentence suspended for 12 months and ordered to do 200 hours of community service.

He was also banned from driving for 12 months and ordered to pay �400 compensation to Mrs Phair.

Last December, Strowger was acquitted of being involved in the death of Carol Myhill, who died as she pushed her bicycle along the pavement in Aldeburgh after finishing work at the Wentworth Hotel in July, 2009.

The mother-of-four was struck by a car driven by Strowger’s friend, James Sadler, 18, of St Andrew Close, Leiston. Sadler admitted causing Mrs Myhill’s death by dangerous driving and was sentenced to 28 months in a young offenders’ institution as well as being banned from driving for four years.

Strowger, who had pleaded not guilty to causing Mrs Myhill’s death by dangerous driving, denied he and Sadler had been racing at the time of her death.