A 21-year-old student who was wearing contact lenses for an out-of-date prescription when he knocked down a pedestrian has been fined just £50 for the fatal crash.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to last week's hearing, an inquest into Lomax's death revealed that Wood had been wearing contact lenses made up to an out-of-date prescription which were too weak to correct his vision at the time of the accident.
It emerged that Wood used monthly contact lenses which were sent directly to him by his optician. However, the practitioner had stopped the supply months before because the student had failed to turn up for the required follow-up eye examination.
It was also reported during the inquest hearing that an eye test conducted after the accident found that Wood's vision had deteriorated since his last set of contact lenses were issued.
At the time of the accident, Wood was in the car talking to four friends whom he was taking to a band practice, the report stated.