Driver sentenced

The widow of a man killed when a pensioner drove into him on a footpath broke down in tears as she described the impact of having her partner ‘‘ripped from my life’’.

William Arthur Lee, 89, was banned from driving for three years and ordered to pay reparations of $7500 to Midge Henderson after pleading guilty to careless driving causing the death of 66-year-old Gerald James Cowley in Oamaru on January 11, 2016. Lee had initially opted to defend the charge, and three charges of careless driving causing injury. He changed his plea to guilty at the start of a judge alone trial, scheduled to go ahead on Monday morning, at the Timaru District Court.

Henderson fought back tears as she read her victim impact statement to the court. She said it had been 21 months, or 644 days, since Lee had ‘‘killed my man’’.

‘‘[You] ripped him from my life, so suddenly and violently because of the selfish, irresponsible choice you made. ‘‘My pain is still as deep and raw all these months later, I feel as if part of me has been amputated.’’

Another victim, Valerie Booth, suffered a fractured right arm, broken ribs, a broken cheekbone, chips to the bones in her right foot and head trauma in the crash.

Booth told the court that before the incident she had been a ‘‘very fit, very confident and very capable person’’.

‘‘But in a few seconds due to your driving my life has changed forever.’’ Judge Joanna Maze ordered Lee to pay Booth reparations of $2500.

According to the summary of facts, in the weeks leading up to the incident Lee had been suffering from an undiagnosed medical condition that he said caused dizzy spells. He had previously seen his GP on four occasions, and told his doctor on December 7 that the attacks were occurring weekly.