A Labour life peer who sent and received text messages minutes before he was involved in a fatal motorway crash has been freed from his 12-week jail sentence by the Court of Appeal.
Lord Ahmed, who was jailed at Sheffield Crown Court on February 25 after admitting dangerous driving, was not present for the ruling by three judges in London.
The 51-year-old peer was involved in an accident which left a man dead on the M1 near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, on Christmas Day 2007.
The sentencing judge, Mr Justice Wilkie, made it clear his text messaging had finished two minutes before the accident took place and was not connected to the collision. Lord Ahmed has served 16 days in prison and was due to be released on March 20.
Allowing the sentence appeal, Lady Justice Hallett said the imposition of a prison sentence in his case had been justified.
She hoped "the message has got over loud and clear that texting at the wheel is dangerous" and emphasised that anyone - "no matter who you are" - convicted of such an offence may be jailed.
But she noted that Lord Ahmed had now "all but served his sentence, which to our mind was not excessive". Because of the "exceptional" personal mitigation in his case, the court was able to take the step of suspending the 12-week jail term for 12 months, she said.
However, the decision sparked criticism from road safety campaigners.
A spokesman for the charity Brake said: "We are appalled at the decision. We think he was given quite a light sentence to begin with. To reduce it sends out completely the wrong message to other drivers. To take your hands off the wheel to send a text is outrageous and completely unacceptable."
Lord Ahmed's solicitor, Steve Smith, confirmed that the peer had left Moorland Prison, near Doncaster, South Yorkshire, following the ruling earlier.
