Three years jail for Chirk death driver with poor eyesight

Trevor Williams, 49, whose Mazda pick-up hit 71-year-old grandfather Brian Parker, had a degenerative sight condition which caused tunnel vision and had been warned he was not fit to drive seven years earlier.

Yesterday Williams, from Longfield, Chirk, was jailed for three years after admitting causing the death of Mr Parker by dangerous driving.

Mr Parker was cycling near his home in Chirk last September when he was in collision with the pick-up on the B5107 at the Trap Bridge on the Shropshire border.

Mold Crown Court heard Williams had applied to be registered as partially sighted because he said he "kept bumping into things".

Judge Philip Hughes banned Williams from driving for four years but told he him that he must not drive until medical advice said he could, if ever, do so. He said he had displayed "selfish irresponsibility" and had taken a deliberate risk by ignoring medical advice."It was only a matter of time before a serious accident," he said.

The court heard that when applying to be registered partially sighted, Williams had written: "I am constantly bumping into things as I cannot see them."

Elen Owen, prosecuting, told how the cyclist would have been visible to the defendant for 85 metres on a straight stretch.

But he clearly had not seen him, braked hard at the last minute and collided with the bicycle. A police investigation showed that he had been advised not to drive since 2004.

Mark Connor, defending, said Williams wished to apologise and was devastated and ashamed for his 'terrible error of judgement'.