Victoria Blair, 77, was on her way home from the shops in Northumberland when she was hit
James Murdoch called the emergency services but carried on making deliveries after he reversed into Victoria Blair, 77, in Haltwhistle, Northumberland, on January 27 2023.
Ms Blair was walking with a frame when she was struck. She was taken to hospital but died from injuries a week later.
Police investigations traced the driver and Murdoch was to tell officers that the elderly woman had fallen behind his vehicle before he reversed out of a car park.
Murdoch had been working for the DPD at the time and struck Ms Blair in his work van close to the residential home she was living in, Newcastle Chronicle reports.
However, Northumbria Police said CCTV and forensic inquiries determined that Ms Blair had been walking nearby when she was struck by Murdoch as she was returning home from the shops.
Murdoch, 43, of Jacques Terrace, Chester-le-Street, County Durham, was convicted of causing death following a trial in September at Newcastle Crown Court.
He was jailed on Monday and was also handed a 12-month driving ban and made to pay a victim surcharge.
On sentencing, Judge Julie Clemitson said: "You were working as a delivery driver for DPD on the day of your offending.
"You would normally use your own van with safety features to make it safer while you carried out your delivery route.
"Those safety features included a reversing camera, parking sensors and an audio alarm to warn others when you were reversing. Had you been driving that van it seems very likely this tragedy would have been avoided.
The court heard Murdoch drove into the car park but the vehicle was too big to fit in any spaces, so he instead chose to stop "as close to the delivery destinations as you could, as many other drivers would have done."
The court was told once inside the van Murdoch recorded his deliveries on a device and looked for his next stop before moving away.
During this time Mrs Blair emerged from the back street and crossed the road as she headed home before pausing and walking into the car park, the court heard.
Judge Clemitson said: "She would have seen you parked and may very well have been waiting to see if you were going to start moving and to weigh up her options on how to get back to her front door."
Judge Clemitson said Murdoch checked both mirrors before reversing but could not see the blind spot at the rear.
She said: "You reversed from your parking position, tragically Victoria Blair was in that blind spot and caused her to fall to the ground.
"Your van either knocked her over on making contact with her or her walker, or was so close to doing so that Victoria Blair fell as she tried to avoid being struck.
"Her fall and her consequential injuries were a result of you accelerating backwards towards her as she tried to cross the car park. Had you got out of your van to check before you moved back you would have seen her."
He stayed to help treat Mrs Blair but then left to carry on with his delivery route, with the police then catching up with him in the centre of Haltwhistle.
"No doubt leaving the scene seems cold and uncaring to the families of Victoria Blair," Judge Clemitson said.
Outside court Matthew and Alexandra Blair spoke on behalf of Ms Blair's four other children and seven grandchildren.
Her son said: "On the 27th of January 2023, I received a call that would change every minute of every day for the rest of my life."
Her daughter added that her mother "didn't lose her life through old age or illness" but that "she had her life taken from her when she still had many, many years left."
They both spoke of the lengthy legal proceedings, saying that Murdoch could have "spared us all the pain" – but instead had shown 'no remorse or sympathy."
Alexandra concluded by saying: "May you rest in peace Mam, we love you always and will never forget you – and you live on in us every day."
Sergeant Andrew Ferguson, who led the investigation in Northumbria Police, said: "Firstly, I would like to express my deepest sympathies to Victoria's family as they continue to navigate life without her.
"Above all else, they have shown significant strength throughout the lengthy investigation and proceedings that have followed – and I'd like to praise them as we reach an outcome today."
