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An optometrist giving evidence in a case in which a 75-year-old woman killed a young motorcyclist told the court that he had warned her about the consequences of not wearing her glasses after she was diagnosed with cataracts in both eyes.

His patient, Eileen Baker of Danby Drive, Cannock, told the hearing at Stafford Crown Court that she had not been wearing her glasses when she was involved in an accident with 22-year-old motorcyclist Paul Mackintosh who collided with her car as she was pulling out of a side road.

The court heard that Baker had been a patient of optometrist David Stidwell for nearly 40 years and in that time he had witnessed her vision gradually deteriorating.

In his evidence, Stidwell told the Court: 'There was unevenness to the surface of her lens which would have made her eyesight blurred over a distance. She had cataracts and separate strength glasses for reading and distance. Her left eye was marginally better than her right. Without her glasses she had about a quarter of the ability to see.'

For the prosecution, Anton Muller, told the hearing that Baker 'had twice been read the riot act' by her optician for not wearing glasses.

'Your optician told you that you would get into terrible trouble if you had a road accident and were not wearing your glasses,' he said.

In response, Baker stated that there was 'no particular reason' why she had not worn her glasses.

The hearing was also told that Baker had passed an eye test to read a number plate conducted by a police officer shortly after the tragedy.

Last Thursday, Baker was convicted of careless driving, fined £500 and banned for three years.

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