A RETIRED farmer will never drive again after he knocked an Army medic off her bike and seriously injured her, York Magistrates' Court heard.

Leslie Abbot, 88, has decided he “is no longer and cannot be a fit and proper person to hold a licence,” his solicitor Sarah Lish said.

He had surrendered his driving licence to the DVLA immediately after the collision on September 7.

Mumta Khaira, prosecuting, said the Army medic had suffered a broken shoulder bone and other injuries in the crash.

In a personal statement, the soldier, who cycles competitively, said the effects of her injury had affected every aspect of her life, her military and medical work, her emotional well-being, her fitness and her sporting life.

“The victim, quite frankly, could not have been worse for you to hit, in terms of her value to the community and the Armed Forces,” deputy district judge Andrew Garthwaite told Abbot.

Abbot, of The Green, Romanby, near Northallerton, walked with a stick in court. He pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by careless driving and failure to stop after a collision.

He was put under a six-month curfew, confining him to his home between 2pm and midnight every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

He was also banned from driving for 18 months and ordered to pay a £114 statutory surcharge and £85 prosecution costs.

He was not ordered to pay compensation because Abbot was insured to drive and compensation will be dealt with through civil means.

The court heard the collision happened when the medic was preparing to turn right on the A684 near Scruton. Ms Lish said the medic was correctly positioned on the correct side of the road.

However, Abbot was “too far to the right” and accepted that he was in the wrong position on the road.

After the collision, he was in shock himself.

He had believed it would be better if he had stopped off the road rather than at the scene and had driven on to a nearby layby he knew.

He had then returned on foot to find the police and ambulance already in attendance, having been called by another motorist. He himself did not have a mobile phone and was a slow walker.

Instead of telling police who he was, he decided that it was more important for the police to concentrate on the cyclist rather than him, so had returned to the layby.

Officers had found him there and he had immediately told them of his involvement in the collision when they located him.