An elderly driver is facing jail after she killed a man by mounting a pavement and crashing into him.
Irene Bell, 80, was behind the wheel of her Range Rover Vogue when she struck Keith Maxwell Wilson last June.
Bell had driven her two-ton car onto the pavement in order to avoid colliding with the back of a caravan.
The pensioner failed to see Mr Maxwell Wilson until it was too late. Paramedics rushed to the aid of the victim but he died at the scene.
Bell, of Dykenook, in Hexham, appeared at Newcastle Magistrates Court where she pleaded guilty to one count of causing death by careless driving and now could be jailed.
Paul Coulson, prosecuting, said a witness was travelling with a friend along the A696 in Northumberland on June 15 last year when they approached the roundabout near the Diamond Inn. A caravan was travelling immediately behind them.
Reading from the witness’s statement, Mr Coulson said: ‘I looked in my passenger wing mirror and, as I looked, I could see a black Range Rover Vogue. It mounted the kerb on the left-hand side, behind the caravan.
Irene Bell leaves Newcastle Magistrates Court after causing death by careless driving
Irene Bell was driving her Range Rover Vogue when she hit Keith Maxwell Wilson (stock image)
‘The Range Rover struck a man walking along the pavement, towards the Diamond pub.’
The court heard that the witness approached Bell and described her as ‘speechless and holding her hands up to her face’. She was then heard to say ‘I couldn’t stop, so I mounted the kerb to avoid the caravan’.
Mr Coulson added: ‘Clearly, this is a distressing case for everyone concerned.’ Magistrates decided to adjourn the case for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.
Bell was released on unconditional bail to next appear back at the same court for sentence on May 8, when her full mitigation will be read out.