CL motorist fined £50 for fatal traffic incident

A 21-year-old student who was wearing contact lenses for an out-of-date prescription when he knocked down a pedestrian has been fined just £50 for the fatal crash.

James Wood of Samuel Road, Gawber, Barnsley, Yorkshire pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention at Barnsley Magistrates Court.

The aspiring music student cried when he told the court how he struck 61-year-old Lesley Lomax in a 'momentary lapse of concentration', reported local newspaper The Star.

Lomax, a hospital domestic, was on her way home from work when the accident happened. She died from multiple injuries including a fractured skull.

Prior to last week's hearing, an inquest into Lomax's death revealed that Wood had been wearing contact lenses made up to an out-of-date prescription which were too weak to correct his vision at the time of the accident.