Police have issued a warning to motorists to drive with more care after a man admitted causing a devastating crash that killed a much-loved Weymouth grandfather.

The warning comes after Antony John Williams, 50, pleaded guilty at Weymouth Magistrates' Court yesterday to causing death by careless driving following a collision that killed Weymouth man Mervyn Thomas, 72.

Williams was disqualified from holding a driving licence for 12 months and given a community order with a requirement to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.

Magistrates heard that at 11.25pm on Wednesday, June 28, last year, Williams was driving his blue BMW on Portland Beach Road towards the island, where he lived at the time.

Lee Turner, prosecuting, said that at a certain point, Williams lost control of his car.

The reasons for this remain unclear, though the police collision report suggested he might have drifted to the onside and hit the base of a bollard, sending him careering across the carriageway and into the path of a grey Peugeot.

The Peugeot, driven by Mr Russ, also contained passenger Mr Thomas.

In a statement to police, Mr Russ said that on the day in question, he had picked up Mr Thomas from his home in Weymouth and driven him to a function on Portland. They had socialised and eaten a meal, and at the time of the collision were driving back towards Weymouth.

"I was confronted with some headlamps coming towards me," Mr Russ said. "I realised there was going to be a collision so I braked."

The court heard the next thing he knew was 'total blackness' and severe pains in his chest. He tried to communicate with Mr Thomas, but was met only with groans in reply.

Mr Thomas died the following day in hospital of injuries sustained in the collision.

In a statement read in court, Mr Thomas' widow, Linda, spoke of her pain at losing her husband. "The definition of careless is when you lose your keys or forget to lock your front door," she said.

"How can you speak of carelessness when it results in the loss of a beloved father, gramps, husband and brother?"

She noted that the incident compounded her loss of a son, Gareth, also in a road-traffic collision, 14 years previously.

“The utter tragedy of the similarities between the death of Mervyn and that of our son Gareth nearly 13 years ago seems particularly cruel," Mrs Thomas said in a tribute to her late husband last year.

Lee Christmas, mitigating, said it was difficult to convey Williams' remorse over the loss of Mr Thomas, and noted that his client had cooperated with the police throughout and pleaded guilty at the first possible opportunity.

Magistrates, presided over by Nigel Coffey, decided that Williams, of Hermes Place in Yeovil, was guilty of the least culpable form of careless driving, as the collision had not resulted from speeding or an extended lapse in concentration.

After the case, PC Simon Fairholme, of Dorset Police's Serious Collision Investigation Team, said: “Antony Williams’ careless driving has resulted in devastating consequences for the family of Mervyn Thomas.

“I hope this tragic case serves as a warning to all motorists that they are in charge of potentially lethal machine every time they get behind the wheel and highlights the need to drive carefully and considerately at all times."