THE prison sentence imposed on a driver who sent and received more than 20 texts before she hit and killed another motorist on the A40 in Oxfordshire should not be increased, judges decided today.

Philippa Curtis, 21, of Icklingham, near Bury St Edmunds, in Suffolk, had her case referred to the Appeal Court for review, to determine whether her 21-month sentence was “unduly lenient”.

Phone records showed that Curtis sent and received the messages before she hit the back of a stationary car at 70mph, killing its driver.

She was found guilty of causing the death by dangerous driving of Victoria McBryde, 24, of Horton, Northamptonshire, following a trial at Oxford Crown Court in December. She was jailed on February 2.

Curtis, a waitress, had been on her way to stay with her boyfriend in Oxford on November 20, 2007, when she crashed into Miss McBryde’s vehicle on the A40, near Wheatley.

Miss McBryde, who had stopped to deal with a burst tyre, was pronounced dead from a brain injury after her car was forced off the road and hit a piece of concrete. She had been sitting in her car waiting for help.

Curtis, who denied a charge of causing death by dangerous driving, admitted sending text messages while driving, but denied using her mobile phone at the time of the crash.

Her case was referred to the court for review by Solicitor General Vera Baird, to determine whether or not it should be increased.

The decision not to increase the sentence was made by Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge, sitting with Mr Justice Lloyd Jones and Mr Justice Wyn Williams, who warned that there were no circumstances in which the use of a mobile phone at the wheel was permitted.