'Expert' driver knocked woman down on Devon seafront

An 'expert' driver caused a crash on Paignton seafront that left a pedestrian with a fractured skull, a court heard. Holidaymaker Robert Young, 66, was pulling out onto Esplanade Road when he hit a woman who was crossing with her husband.

The collision happened at low speed but was heavy enough to send her crashing to the ground. Christina Hunt suffered the serious head injury and still walks with a stick.

Young, a financial advisor from Kent, said he could not explain why he did not see the pedestrian. Magistrates in Newton Abbot were told he is a member of the Institute for Advanced Motorists and "devastated" by what happened.

He pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by careless driving. Young was given a community order and told to do 120 hours of unpaid work.

Prosecutor Hannah Cotton said the incident happened on September 15, 2023. CCTV was played to the court showing the Citroen C4 on Paignton seafront at the harbour end of Paignton Sands.

Young turned right out of Eastern Esplanade near the roundabout just as the pedestrians were crossing from the other side of Esplanade Road. He stayed on scene after hitting Mrs Hunt.

In a victim statement she said she struggled with her speech and memory as a result of the collision and had only been able to return to work on reduced hours. She has also lost her sense of taste and smell and no longer goes out on her own.

"I feel angry about what happened but grateful to be alive," she said.

Her husband, who was with her at the time, said it had been a long and hard road to recovery for his wife. He has put his feelings of anger aside and does not hate the driver. "I want justice for her," he said.

Pippa Harper, defending, said Young "can offer no real explanation" for how the collision happened. "He has no idea how he didn't simply see them in the road." She said the driver had slowed at the junction and indicated.

"He is horrified by what happened and devastated he caused suffering to her," she added. "It was a very unfortunate accident."

She said Young, of Lenham Heath Road, had never troubled the courts before and is an upstanding member of his community, involved in local charities and a choir. He works as an actuary, dealing with life insurance, earning £10,000 a month.

The community order will last for 12 months. Young was disqualified from driving for the same period.

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