Son’s heartbreaking courtroom speech to female driver who accidentally ran over and killed his father
Grieving son has no sympathy for driver who has "to live every day with what she has done"
THE grieving son of a frail pensioner killed after being hit by a car, has said the driver will "live every day with what she has done" but he "cannot feel sorry for her".
Father-of-three William Raine died after he was struck by down by Ann Laidlow when she had a "momentary lapse of attention".
Laidlow’s Nissan Micra mowed down Mr Raine while he was crossing the road in broad daylight near his home in Blaydon, Tyne and Wear.
The 57-year-old was not speeding and had no traces of alcohol in her blood.
At Laidlow's trial Mr Raine’s heartbroken son Christopher, a 59-year-old accountant said: “As a family we know and accept the defendant did not go out that day with the intention to have a collision causing a death but the fact remains that is what happened.
“She has to live every day with what she has done but so do we. Because of that I cannot feel sorry for her. We have been robbed of whatever precious time we had left with dad.
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"He may have had years, months or weeks, we will never know.
"But that time, that precious, precious time, has been taken from us.
“Whatever sentence was handed out we were never going to feel like justice had been done for my dad.
"There are no winners in this but I have problems with a system that seems to say because he was killed by a car it does not seem to matter.”
Christopher lives on Merseyside and could not make it back to the North East in time to say goodbye to his dad - who was struck down at 12.45pm on Tuesday January 26.
His brother Phillip, 52, now lives in Portugal while youngest brother Mark, 47, still has not come to terms with their dad’s death.
Instead, mum Catherine, 81, was the only one to see William, who had “terrible and sustained” injuries from the collision.
Laidlow, dressed in dark clothing and with shoulder length brown hair, remained motionless at the front of the court while Christopher delivered his statement.
She stared straight ahead as Christopher's voice trembled with emotion as he told the court: “It is so hard to accept he is no longer here.
“Our emotions fluctuate consistently, from real driving anger to deep personal sorrow.
"They are followed with regrets for what we did not get to see or do.
"This is grief, truly, truly grief. It is often the little things that trigger an emotional response.
"Traffic deaths on the news or car crashes on TV or a totally unrelated image that triggers a memory and takes us back.
“Something will happen and I will say, ‘I must tell dad’. I still come in and not thinking I say I have to call him before it gets too late. I have caught myself dialling his number before I realise he is no longer there.”
Magistrate David Errington admitted it would be a “bench made of stone” if it was not moved by Mr Raine’s words to the court.
Disqualifying Laidlow from driving for two years, he said: “No matter what we say or what we deem to feel the correct sentence is it will not go anywhere near to satisfying the family.”
Laidlow from Whickham, Tyne and Wear, admitted causing death by driving without due care and attention and was also given 12-month community order and ordered to pay costs of £145.
Defending, Kieran O’Neill said Laidlow had not been behind the wheel since the incident and would never drive again.