A VAN driver has been found guilty of causing the death of a speeding motorcyclist in Stourport.

Despite pleading not guilty to causing death by careless driving, a jury of four men and eight women decided 53-year-old Peter Colquitt caused the death of Stuart Simpson on August 3, 2013.

The court had heard that, at the time of the tragedy, Colquitt did not have a current driving licence as it had expired almost two years earlier, which also meant he was uninsured.

Motorcyclist Stuart Simpson, of Corndon Close, Kidderminster, was killed almost instantly when his bike burst into flames after hitting Colquitt's van, which had pulled out from a slip road to cross the dual carriageway on the A451 Minster Road.

Worcester Crown Court heard that Colquitt had stopped at the end of the slip road to cross the dual carriageway, looked and saw Mr Simpson's bike - a powerful Suzuki GSX 1300cc model - but decided it was safe to pull out.

He misjudged the speed and distance of the motorcycle, said Antonie Muller, prosecuting.

Mr Simpson moved to the left to try to avoid the collision but his bike crashed with Colquitt's white Fiat Ducato van on the front nearside before catapulting into the air and bursting into flames as it landed.

The rider was killed and Colquitt suffered injuries including a broken pelvis and damage to the base of his spine.

Mr Muller said the incident, on a "fine, clear, lovely summer's day" had been tragic for all concerned, including Colquitt, who had been taking garden waste to the recycling centre in Minster Road and was turning right from the Kidderminster-bound carriageway.

Police crash investigation expert Graham Powell told the jury the bike was in the fifth of six gears at the time of impact and would have been travelling between 90 and 110mph - in the region of 100mph.

Mr Powell had concluded that Colquitt did not appreciate the speed of the bike and the rider had no chance to avoid the van.

During the five-day trial, Colquitt told the jury: "I have relived this every day, going through my mind and asking if I did something wrong and I think what I did in the circumstances was right.

"I have been driving for over 30 years and I did what I always do. I just don't know what else I could have done."

He said he had seen the motorcycle approaching with its headlight on but said he had no reason to think it was travelling between 90 and 110mph and, as he crossed the carriageway and it got closer, he still thought it would pass safely behind his van.

"There was just a bang and the next thing I was moving sideways," said Colquitt.

He got out of his vehicle covered in blood from shattered glass and leaned against the van until a passerby helped him to move away because the bike was on fire.

Colquitt, of Ronhill Close, Cleobury Mortimer, who denied causing death by careless driving, will be sentenced in May following the production of reports.

Judge Robert Juckes QC said that, before sentencing, he also wanted to know more about the circumstances of a 10-year-old drink driving conviction against the defendant, in which he was given a three-year ban from the road. Because he was four times the alcohol limit, he had been ordered to take a special test before returning to the road and his licence was to be renewed annually.

But the court heard that his last licence expired in November 2011, meaning that at the time of the fatal crash, Colquitt was without a licence and uninsured.

Judge Juckes, who said he wanted to establish if Colquitt knew he did not have a licence, banned him from driving after the jury's guilty verdict and the length of the disqualification will be determined when he is sentenced, which is likely to be on either May 7 or 11.