The shocked family of a mobility scooter user who was killed on a pedestrian crossing stumbled upon his fatally injured body when they passed the scene just minutes after the accident. William Lock, aged 86, died two days after the accident in South Molton in which he was hit by driver Ronald Webber. Mr Lock's daughter Debbie Nott, a retired baker, was driving past the scene in New Road with her daughter when they spotted the wrecked scooter and found him in the road nearby. Webber, aged 80, was spared jail at Exeter Crown Court after a Judge heard he had been dazzled by bright sunlight and had not seen the buggy on the crossing in front of him.
The court was read a moving victim impact statement by Mr Lock's daughter Janet Smith in which she revealed how other members of the family came upon the crash scene. She said Mrs Nott had been driving to Barnstaple to buy supplies in readiness for getting a new puppy when they chanced on the scene of the accident. She said: "Happiness soon turned to horror when they came across the incident and immediately recognised Dad's broken mobility scooter and found him bleeding in the road." Mrs Smith asked for the maximum sentence to be imposed but Judge Francis Gilbert, QC, said there was nothing to be gained by sending an elderly frail man to jail.
Retired quarryman Webber, of Pathfields, Exeter, admitted causing death by careless driving and was jailed for six months, suspended for two years and banned from driving for three years. He said: "You were approaching a crossing when you failed to see Mr Lock on his mobility scooter and collided with him, causing severe injuries from which he died two days later. "You had an unblemished record and a clean licence and told the police you were dazzled by the sun when you came up a short rise approaching the crossing. "A pedestrian and the driver of the car which followed you both give credence to that account. The other driver says the sun was low and bright and there was a glare from the road's surface. "The pedestrian said she had to shelter her eyes and how Mr Lock commented to her how bright it was. "It was clearly an error for you to carry on driving without reducing your speed when you were dazzled by the sun." Mr Gordon Richings, prosecuting, said Webber was driving his Ford Focus on New Road, South Molton at 11.40 am on January 11 last year when he hit Mr Lock on the crossing. He said there were no defects in the car and he passed a sight test but there was evidence he may have been dazzled by the sun. Mr Nigel Wraith, defending, said Webber had pulled down the sun visor but was still unable to see the other man, who had been a friend for many years. He said Webber was forced to give up his job as a quarryman after an accident in 1980, but has devoted his retirement to playing crown green bowls and is much admired by fellow players. He said he is suffering from illnesses including diabetes, angina, and heart disease and has just been diagnosed with dementia. He has recently suffered a fall which has led to treatment in hospital for a brain injury. He stopped at the scene of the accident and tried to help, but did not realise how seriously injured he was. He is remorseful and never intends to drive again.
