A MOTHER whose only child was killed in a road accident expressed her relief that the woman responsible was not sent to prison.

Sally Kent looked on at Oxford Crown Court today as Magdalena Ochnio was handed a suspended sentence for causing the death of her 13-year-old daughter Charlotte Hill.

Ms Kent has forgiven Ochnio, and after the hearing she said: “I’m really pleased she’s not going to prison”.

Ochnio, 31, had previously admitted causing the death of the schoolgirl by careless driving.

Her Toyota Avensis ploughed into the back of the stationary Ford Ka Charlotte was in on the A34 slip road at Kidlington in November 2008.

Ochnio was travelling within the speed limit, and Ms Kent told us last year: “It was a tragic accident”.

The pair emotionally hugged one another outside court and Charlotte’s mother, 39, expressed her feelings about the sentence through police officer Nick Perks, who himself added: “Humanity won.”

Judge Patrick Eccles, who read two victim-impact statements from Ms Kent, said: “Charlotte was a bright girl.

“She plainly lit up her mother’s life and the lives of those she came into contact with.

“Sally Kent has lost her only child and the pain of that loss is with her still, as her moving victim personal statements have demonstrated.

“She showed great dignity and composure in circumstances of great distress and emotion.

“Her magnanimity in offering forgiveness and putting to one side her natural feelings is beyond praise.”

Brian Dean, defending Ochnio, said: “It would be a hard-hearted person who wasn’t affected by the level of remorse shown by Miss Ochnio.”

The court heard she had since given up driving and developed an “elevated and high level of post-traumatic stress disorder” as a result of the incident.

Ochnio, who fought back tears in the dock, came to Britain from Poland five years ago and works at a publisher in Kidlington. She lives in Reading.

She was sentenced to three months in prison, suspended for 12 months, and was told to do 150 hours’ unpaid work.

She was also banned from driving for two years. Court costs are set to be settled at a future date.

Judge Eccles said: “Your own personal pain is obvious and is accepted by Charlotte’s mum as being sincere.

“You were not concentrating as you should have been in approaching that junction.

“Because of the speed at which you had to travel, your concentration had to be engaged fully. There was no room for inattention or mistake when travelling at that speed.”