An American tourist who caused the death of a pedestrian outside a hotel when she hit the accelerator instead of the brake was given a six-month suspended prison sentence on Wednesday. Judge Sandra Crawford told Cathy Stewart (67) it was her view that the defendant’s “genuine remorse, previously clear record, good character and personal circumstances” warranted an exceptional approach. Accordingly, she suspended the prison sentence for two years. Stewart, appearing at Antrim Crown Court, was also banned from driving for 12 months.The husband and brother of victim Alison Eichner watched proceedings by video link. The judge said it was clear the 44-year-old mother of two “was at the heart of what was plainly a loving and close-knit family”.She said having read victim-impact statements it was clear Eichner’s tragic death had caused “immense and enduring” pain and suffering.At an earlier hearing Stewart, from Benton, Illinois, entered a guilty plea to causing the death by driving carelessly in the car park at the Causeway Hotel in Bushmills on June 11th last year. Crawford outlined how Eichner had been on a family holiday with her brother and mother. She and her brother had sat down at a table outside the hotel when a rented minivan, driven by Stewart, pulled into a parking space directly opposite them. However, the vehicle did not stop and although the victim’s brother managed to jump out of the way, Eichner was struck. It was the opinion of a forensic expert that Stewart did not put the car from drive into park when she got out so when she took her foot off the brake, it rolled forward. The expert witness said he considered that, with the vehicle in electric-only mode, the lack of noise “may have led the driver to mistakenly think the vehicle was off when she opened the door and released her foot from the brake pedal”.“He draws the conclusion that the driver had pressed the accelerator, mistakenly thinking it was the brake pedal,” the judge said, adding that if Stewart had turned the vehicle off or put it in park, the accident would not have occurred. The court heard that Stewart had undergone counselling and therapy as the accident has had an impact on her mental health, and that Eichner’s family “are in her thoughts constantly”.