An Inverurie pensioner who was driving without due care or attention has been handed penalty points after she knocked a 75-year-old woman into the air with her car.
Sheila Haggerty, 73, entered a plea of guilty at Aberdeen Sheriff Court to hitting the woman with her Brown Ford C-Max as she drove home from the supermarket.
The victim, who uses a walking stick, was rushed to hospital and received physiotherapy after she suffered two hip fractures in the incident.
Haggerty’s solicitor told the court his client is “horrified” at the injuries the other woman sustained.
Members of public raised alarm
Fiscal depute Sean Ambrose told the court that on the evening of January 27 last year Haggerty was driving home from Morrisons when she pulled onto Blackhall Road, Inverurie.
He said the 75-year-old woman was walking across the road using her tripod walking stick when she was struck by Haggerty’s car, throwing her into the air.
Police were flagged down by members of the public who observed the woman lying in the middle of the road and called an ambulance.
“The complainer was wearing a red jacket, black trousers and her walking stick was blue,” Mr Ambrose said.
“The accused provided a negative breath test.
“She also told police that she hadn’t seen the complainer, adding that she had ‘come out of nowhere’.”
The hurt woman was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where she was found to have sustained two hip fractures and injuries to her fingers.
During her recovery, the 75-year-old also had to receive physiotherapy.
Haggerty pleaded guilty to one charge of driving without due care or attention.
‘This was careless on her part’
Defence agent Liam Mcallister described his client’s actions that evening as “an aberration”.
“It was an extremely dramatic event and Mrs Haggerty has taken responsibility for the outcome,” he said.
“The police determined that she was driving without due care and attention and she accepts that.
“My client has been driving for 53 years with no incident. This was careless on her part and she had simply not observed that there could be people coming from between vehicles.
“She is horrified by the injuries that the complainer sustained.”
Sheriff Edward Gilroy stated that he believed this incident to be “on the upper end of the scale of careless driving”.
He fined Haggerty, of Kintore Terrace, Inverurie, a total of £210 and handed her six penalty points.
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