Hitchin crash driver missed red light and fatally injured man

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-32962366

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A driver who is blind in one eye went through a red light and struck a man on a crossing leaving him fatally injured.

Christine Hussey hit Simon Cheung in Hitchin, Hertfordshire as he walked to work, Luton Crown Court heard.

Mr Cheung, 33, died in hospital a week after the crash on Cambridge Road, in January 2014.

Hussey, 58 and of Luton who was legally fit to drive, was given a suspended five-month jail term after admitting causing death by careless driving.

Driving ban

The defendant, of Crawley Green Road, was on her way to Letchworth when she hit Mr Cheung, who was on his way to work at his family's restaurant.

In addition to the jail term, which was suspended for 12 months, the accounts assistant was ordered to carry out 180 hours' unpaid work.

Although blind in her left eye she had been passed fit to drive, the court was told.

She was also banned from driving for two years and ordered to pay £1,200 costs.

Prosecutor Beverly Cripps said Mr Cheung had properly used the crossing near the Willian Road junction, at 07:30 GMT on Wednesday 15 January 2014.

The lights changed but Hussey failed to notice, braking only after she hit Mr Cheung.

'Real remorse'

She said later she thought the lights were green.

Paul Rogers, defending, said: "Mrs Hussey understands very much the effect of what she did on that day. Her inattention caused the loss of a friend, a brother and a son.

"She recalls the lights being green and can't understand why she did not see the lights change.

"All she can do is express her very real remorse."

Judge David Farrell QC said: "No sentence the court can pass can truly reflect the tragic loss of the life of Simon Cheung. It was all caused by your carelessness."