Pensioner died after being hit by car outside Telford McDonald's - driver won't be prosecuted

The retired civil servant was lying on the ground for an hour and a half before being taken to Royal Stoke University Hospital with multiple injuries.

He suffered a brain bleed, three broken ribs and a detached retina in his left eye after the crash, which happened on December 14 last year.

Mr Watson, of Greenaway Place, Donnington, died at Princess Royal Hospital in Telford on January 18 after developing pneumonia.

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The motorist who hit Mr Watson, a woman who had her son and mother in the car with her, said her vision was impaired by the sun.

An inquest into Mr Watson’s death was held at Shropshire Coroner’s Court, Guildhall, Shrewsbury.

The hearing was told that Mr Watson had been going to the McDonald’s every morning for his breakfast for seven years with his friend, Garth Skitt.

Mr Skitt had gone from the restaurant out to his car in the car park, and Mr Watson followed him, using a walking stick.

The Nissan, coming from the drive-thru, hit Mr Watson as he was using the pedestrian crossing at around 9.15am.

The driver of the Nissan reversed slightly, then got out, went to Mr Watson’s aid and called 999.

The emergency services arrived and took Mr Watson to hospital.

The driver, who was a McDonald’s regular like Mr Watson, was breathalysed and drug-tested by police and found not to be under the influence of any substances.

She gave an interview to officers, in which she said she was driving at around five miles per hour when the crash happened, and that she and her mother had “simultaneously” put their sun visors down due to the brightness in the sky before the collision.

She insisted to officers that the sun was the “primary factor” in the crash, and “expressed her remorse and accepted her responsibility for the incident”.

A McDonald’s worker who said she witnessed the crash said the Nissan went around the corner “at a faster speed than most cars”.

After seeing what happened, the employee rushed to fetch managers from the restaurant.

She said she overheard the Nissan driver say she “couldn’t see him because the sun was in her eyes”.

John Ellery, senior coroner for Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, confirmed that the police referred the case to the Crown Prosecution Service for a charging decision, but the CPS chose not to go ahead with criminal proceedings against the driver.

“This is a factual hearing. My role is not to apportion blame,” Mr Ellery said.

He recorded a conclusion that Mr Watson died due to a road traffic collision.