Borders pensioner banned after woman loses leg in crash
An 89-year-old woman has been banned from driving for more than three years after causing a crash in which a woman had her leg amputated above her knee.
Christine Thomson from Leitholm in Berwickshire, pleaded guilty to a charge of causing serious injury by careless driving on the morning November 23 last year.
Jedburgh Sheriff Court was told the woman suffered life-changing injuries after Thomson’s car drove into her while she was loading shopping into her own vehicle outside the entrance to the Co-op in Coldstream.
Thomson was trying to park outside the High Street store Volkswagen Golf collided with the passenger of the other car – pinning her between both vehicles, and knocking another woman to the ground.
The witnesses were facing the rear of their car when Thomson approached, carrying two passengers.
Prosecutor Joanna Waller said the pensioner intended to pull in behind the other vehicle when she “lost control and accelerated forward” – colliding with the rear of the other woman’s vehicle, and knocking a second woman to the ground.
She added: “She reversed back and stopped a short distance away, with the emergency services being called.”
The court heard the woman pinned between the two vehicles suffered an open fracture to her right fibula and tibia bones and was taken to Borders General Hospital before being transferred to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, where she underwent surgery.
The fiscal said there was no threat to her life but that the consequences were “life-changing”. The other woman suffered what was described as “soft tissue damage” and was discharged.
Defence lawyer Ross Dow explained it was a wet day and his client’s foot slipped from the brake to the accelerator.”
He said the pensioner, who had driven for 69 years without incident, surrendered her licence two weeks after the crash and will not drive again.
Thomson was sentenced in her absence due to her personal circumstances, but Mr Dow said his client was devastated at what had happened.
He added the injured woman would be seeking compensation through a civil action.
Sheriff Fife said no sentence could compensate the victim for losing her leg. Thomson was banned from driving for 40 months and fined £750, with a £40 victim surcharge.