A former teacher who drove off after hitting another vehicle in a supermarket car park claims he was distressed as he had been the victim of a distraction burglary just weeks before.
Charles Wilson, 81, of Goldington Road, Bedford was behind the wheel of his Subaru Impreza in the Tesco car park in Riverfield Drive (right) when he struck another car, which onlookers said caused a ‘big scraping noise’, before leaving the scene without swapping details with the vehicle’s owner.
However his registration number was taken down by witnesses and despite claiming he had no recollection of the incident Wilson admitted he had been driving his car that day.
Speaking for the defence, Ms Smith, said: “Mr Wilson is an 81 year-old man who has held a full clean licence for 48 years and has never been involved in an incident before. He is understandably very shaken by it and hasn’t had the confidence to drive again since.” A court heard how only a few weeks before the incident took place on December 20, Wilson and his wife had been victims of a distraction burglary on three separate occasions when the offenders had gained access to their home.
Ms Smith said: “He recalls that on the day this incident happened it was the first time he had left his wife alone at home since the burglaries and had gone to Tesco to use the ATM but was distracted by the circumstances and was very distressed.” The former Bedford Modern School teacher pleaded guilty to driving a vehicle in a public place without due care and attention and to failing to stop after a road accident at Bedford Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday and was fined £200, ordered to pay £85 costs, a £15 victim surcharge and had four points endorsed on his licence.
