A WOMAN driver who caused a pensioner's death in a Doncaster road accident has prayed every day since "for God to look after her soul", a court heard.
The judge had earlier been told that Hafeeza Din had initially tried to blame another driver after the 78-year-old spinster was knocked down on Thorne Road, Doncaster, earlier this year.
But by the time she appeared in the dock at Doncaster Crow
n Court yesterday she was ready to express her remorse which helped save her from a prison sentence.
Din, aged 66, of Bawtry Road, Bessacarr, who is part of the Din hotel and restaurant family, pleaded guilty to causing the death of Barbara Chester by driving without due care and attention last February.
She was sentenced to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work for the community and banned from driving for two years after
Miss Chester, who lived in Wheatley, was walking along Thorne Road when Din drove her Volkswagen Golf out of Balmoral Road to cross over on to Axholme Road but smashed into the side of a Ford Escort which had right of way driving from the town centre towards DRI.
Corinne Wilson, prosecuting, said Din's sightline was restricted by garden walls and hedges so she should have slowed down at the junction but she pulled out without seeing the Escort.
The Escort was spun 180 degrees and knocked Miss Chester down, causing fatal injuries, and the driver did his best to help her, Ms Wilson told the court.
But she added: "In contrast witnesses saw the defendant get out of her car and indicate 'it's not my fault' and one heard her say 'the car came out of nowhere' and she suggested to the Escort driver it was his fault."
When Din was interviewed by police she still maintained the road was clear for her to cross and she did not accept it was her fault.
But when she appeared in court her solicitor said she was in shock at the time.
"She is an extremely religious and devout lady and she has been praying for assistance to look after the soul of the unfortunate lady who died," said David Branscombe, defending.
"She had not seen the other vehicle and did not know where it had come from and at that point believed it had struck her vehicle. Since these events she has had to come to terms with the facts that clearly indicate that she hadn't drawn to a halt at the junction.
"She says that if this lady had survived she would have cared for her for the rest of her life to the best of her ability."
The defendant was described in court as woman of substantial means.
Mr Branscombe said it was a relatively minor error of judgement on her part which had tragic consequences "which in many times out of a hundred would not have been so."
Sentencing her, Recorder Neil Davey, QC, said no amount of punishment could assuage the grief of people whose lives had been blighted.
He said: "No passage of time is long enough to remove the burden of responsibility for the death of an innocent fellow citizen that you will carry with you to your grave."
The judge said he accepted Din's remorse was now genuine and she was of exemplary character.
After reading of her financial position he ordered her to pay £535 prosecution costs and pay for her own defence.
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