Driver fined at Weymouth Magistrates' Court for knocking down woman (From Dorset Echo)

Driver fined at Weymouth Magistrates' Court for knocking down woman

5:00pm Saturday 4th February 2012 in Local News

A DELIVERY driver who knocked down an elderly woman has been found guilty of driving without due care and attention.

Martyn James West, aged 36, represented himself at a trial at Weymouth Magistrates’ Court.

He was accused of knocking down Mrs Mary Wendy Treacher, aged 76, on the corner of the Square at Beaminster on July 25, 2011.

Giving evidence, Mr West said he had been working as a delivery driver for TNT for two or three months when the incident happened.

West told the court that he knew the van had a blind spot on the right-hand side of the windscreen.

He told the court that on the day of the incident, a road closure meant he had to turn on to the wrong side of the road and saw someone in similar coloured clothing to Mrs Treacher a third of the way across the road.

West said the person he believed to have been Mrs Treacher had already crossed safely when he pulled out of the junction between Hogshill Street and Fleet Street.

He said he was going no more than five miles per hour and that his foot was still on the clutch at the time of the collision.

He said: “It was an unavoidable accident.”

The court heard evidence from Mrs Treacher, who obtained a leg injury in the incident and whose walking aid was also damaged.

Mr West, of Drewsteington, Exeter, told the court that he had to reverse the van to relieve Mrs Treacher’s leg from underneath the wheel.

West was ordered to pay a £100 fine, £100 in costs and had his licence endorsed with six points.