OAP jailed for killing cyclist after being told not to drive
Pensioner warned twice by opticians of poor eyesight
A PENSIONER who fatally injured a cyclist after ignoring warnings not to drive because of his failing eyesight has been jailed for 32 months.
John Johnstone, 84, admitted causing the death of German national Hanno Garbe by driving dangerously on a Highland road.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard Johnstone drove in full knowledge that his vision was severely impaired and that he failed to spot the cyclist on the road.
A judge rejected a plea to spare the first offender a prison sentence, saying only a custodial sentence was appropriate.
Johnstone pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving on the B9152 Aviemore to Kincraig road, Inverness-Raigmore shire, on March 4 last year.
Mr Garbe, a senior sales manager, suffered multiple injuries in the collision, including a nonsurvivable head injury, and died the following day in hospital.
The 57-year-old had moved to the UK in 2007 and later set up home in the Aviemore area with his wife.
Advocate depute Alex Prentice, QC, said Johnstone had attended a branch of Specsavers in Inverness in September 2018 for a routine sight test. The pensioner had been struggling with watching television, following the ball when golfing and also driving.
After an examination he was told by optometrist Ellen Torrance his distance vision had declined and he had cataracts in both eyes.
The prosecutor said: ‘She told the accused he could not lawfully drive and must notify the DVLA of his condition.’
The following month Johnstone attended the eye clinic at
Hospital, in Inverness, and another optometrist confirmed the assessment.
Mr Prentice said: ‘The accused was aware that he could not drive until after a successful cataract operation. As of March 4 last year he had not had the operation.’
On the day of the collision, widower Johnstone was travelling home after attending the Strathdeceased spey Body Repair Centre in Aviemore to arrange to get work carried out on his Kia Picanto car.
Mr Garbe, a keen cyclist, was struck from the rear by the car, causing substantial damage to the vehicle’s bonnet, windscreen and roof.
Mr Prentice said: ‘The accused got out of the vehicle to find the
lying on the side of the southbound carriageway on his right-hand side in an unconscious state with a large amount of blood on the roadway.’
Police who attended required Johnstone, who was wearing glasses, to take part in a roadside sight test, which he failed.
Mr Prentice said: ‘He could only read the registration plate at a distance of 4.8 metres. The requirement is to be able to read it at 20 metres.’
When Johnstone was interviewed by police he told them he did not see the victim prior to the collision. Mr Prentice said: ‘Collision investigators concluded that the accused failed to observe the cyclist and that the cause for this was likely to be his poor eyesight. The low sun could have been a contributory factor.’
Defence solicitor advocate Marco Guarino told the court: ‘It is difficult to underestimate how hard it has been for him [Johnstone] to come to terms with what has happened. It has had a profound effect upon him.’
Mr Guarino said Johnstone, who has health difficulties, passed his driving test in 1958 and had no previous convictions.
The defence lawyer added: ‘[Johnstone] has not driven since, his licence has been revoked and there is no prospect of him ever driving again.’
But Judge Lord Fairley told Johnstone: ‘You continued to drive a car when it was plainly dangerous for you to do so.’
The judge pointed out that the pensioner, of Kingussie, Inverness-shire had been told by optometrists on two separate occasions that his eyesight did not meet the required standard for driving a vehicle.
Lord Fairley said he was satisfied that only a custodial sentence was appropriate in the case.
‘Must notify the DVLA of condition’