A judge came under fire last night for failing to impose an immediate driving ban on a racehorse trainer who killed a North-East stable girl in a crash after drinking.

Jeff Pearce, 53, of Newmarket, Suffolk, yesterday pleaded guilty to causing the death of his head stable girl, Catherine Marr, 30, from Wingate, County Durham, by careless driving.

Judge Jonathan Haworth adjourned sentencing at Cambridge Crown Court until next week and freed Pearce on bail, leaving him able to carry on driving for the next seven days.

Courts have the power to impose interim driving bans in such cases under the Road Traffic Offenders Act.

The judge gave no indication of sentence although lawyers privately indicated that the race trainer was facing a jail sentence.

The Campaign Against Drink Driving said allowing Pearce to continue driving after he admitted such a serious driving offence was ''ridiculous''.

Maria Cape, secretary of the campaign group, said the law should be changed so that a driving ban was automatic as soon as anyone admitted or was convicted of a driving offence involving alcohol.

Miss Marr, who had moved to Newmarket to pursue her dream of a career in racing, was a passenger in Pearce's Mercedes when it was involved in a three-vehicle accident in Cambridgeshire last May.

The court heard that Pearce had been overtaking and had clipped an on-coming vehicle before hitting a tree.

David Williams, for Pearce, said the trainer accepted that the alcohol he had drunk had affected his driving.

Roger Harrison, prosecuting, said the Crown Prosecution Service had agreed to accept Pearce's guilty plea to careless driving, and the judge ordered that a dangerous driving allegation should lie on file.

Mrs Cape, whose daughter Helen, 16, was killed in 1982 after being involved in an accident with a drink-driver, said such bans should be automatic.

''The judge in this case should have imposed a driving ban,'' said Mrs Cape.

''It's ridiculous that in such cases someone who has admitted an offence like this can theoretically drive away from court.

''This man has now been able to carry on driving since this accident happened in May.

"Ordinary people would be amazed that such a thing can happen, but the public just don't realise that this is what happens.

''We believe that a ban should be automatic at the earliest possible stage.

''What would happen if someone in this situation was involved in another drink-drive accident while awaiting sentence. People would be outraged.''

Pearce is due to be sentenced at Cambridge next week, although a date has yet to be fixed.

No one was available last night at Miss Marr's Wingate home, which she shared with her mother Maureen.

'14-pint driver killed six' - Page 2