AN OPTICIAN who admitted causing the death of a Stoke on Trent pensioner by careless driving has been remanded for reports by a judge.
Neil Cartwright pleaded guilty to driving without due care in a two car crash on the A51 Stone to Rugeley that led to the death of Eva Walker.
The accident happened on October 22 last year at Hixon, near Stafford.
Mrs Walker, who was aged 84 and lived in Fenton, was a passenger in a Vauxhall Meriva which was in collision with an Audi A4. She was taken by air ambulance to hospital in Birmingham, but died four days after the crash.
Cartwright, aged 51, of Ivy Court, Hixon, pleaded guilty to the charge of causing death by careless driving in a hearing at Stafford Crown Court, having previously denied it.
Peter McCartney, defending, said Cartwright was a peripatetic optician who travelled around to do his work. A driving ban would inevitably follow his conviction for this offence and Mr McCartney asked that the disqualification be delayed until the sentencing hearing so that his client could put his affairs in order.
But Judge Mark Eades said the offence was so grave that an interim disqualification must be imposed immediately.
He adjourned the case for pre-sentence reports and remanded Cartwright on unconditional bail, but warned him: "This is no indication as to the ultimate sentence."
