A 61-YEAR-OLD van driver who knocked a motorcyclist off his bike and left him with a broken pelvis has been fined £2,500.
But Anthony Phillips was not banned from driving, after the Magistrate’s Court heard that it would cause him to lose his livelihood.
The court was shown CCTV footage of the collision on 11 October, in which Phillips’s van pulled out from a T-junction onto the Inner Road and hit the motorbike side-on. The rider is seen to fly off his vehicle and onto the road. The court heard it had been a number of months before he could walk again.
Crown Advocate Lauren Taylor, prosecuting, said: “The defendant did not stop at the white line and he did not indicate.”
Phillips admitted a charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Advocate Mike Preston, defending, pointed out that his client had been driving for 42 years and had not committed any other motoring offences. “This was a momentary lapse,” he added. “Mr Phillips cannot quite understand how he didn’t see the motorcyclist.”
He also told the court that Phillips worked as a self-employed painter and decorator and said: “The ability to drive is crucial. The impact of losing his licence would be devastating and would cause his business to fold.”
Relief Magistrate Peter Harris said that because Phillips had a previously clean record he would impose a fine but no driving ban. He also endorsed his licence – meaning that it will bear a record of the offence for the next three years – and told him: “Don’t put yourself in this position again.”
