A NORTH Cumbrian doctor whose car collided with a pedestrian left the scene without offering him medical help, a court heard.

The circumstances surrounding the fatal collision, which happened on the A69 at Warwick-on-Eden on the evening of April 27, 2019, were outlined today at Carlisle Crown Court.

In the dock was Dr Samin Ahmed Khan, 75.

He failed to see 75-year-old pedestrian Robert Wilson in time as he attempted to cross the road after initially sheltering in a central island on the road.

Though Khan swerved and braked as he tried to avoid a collision, his Mercedes E220 collided with the pensioner.

The defendant stopped a short distance along the road, the court heard, but after seeing that Mr Wilson was unconscious and that somebody was calling the emergency services, Khan drove away from the scene.

He offered Mr Wilson no medical assistance and failed to give anybody his details.

The defendant, of Scaleby Hill, near Carlisle, admitted causing death by careless driving and failing to stop at the scene of an accident.

Paul Brookwell, prosecuting, said Khan accepted it should have been possible for him to respond to the sight of Mr Wilson crossing the road sooner than he did and on that basis he accepted his driving fell below what is expected of a competent driver.

The court heard about the impact of the tragedy on Mr Wilson's family, including his widow Agnes.

In their 54 years together, she said, her husband had been her security and her "best friend".

"She's now left alone," said the prosecutor.

"She recalls the horror of the evening in detail, repeatedly."

Central to her statement, said the barrister, was that Khan got back into his car and 'ran from the horror he had just caused.'

Mr Wilson's sister Sandra Slack, on the scene shortly after the accident, said: "I will never forget the deafening sound of the impact of the car which hit our brother.

"It was horrendous."

She went to brother's aid and he lay in the road.

Explaining how devastated she and her sister-in-law were, she said she could have understood a driver immediately leaving the scene 'in panic'.

But, she added: "How anybody - least of all a doctor - could do this - beggars belief."

Defence barrister Tom Gent said of the defendant: "He's desperately sorry for his mistake.

"This is a tragic case.

"He's been affected very badly by it; in fact, there's not a day or a night that he doesn't think about it.

"There seems to be little dispute that this is something the defendant will never properly come to terms with.

"He knows nothing he could ever say or do could ever make amends."

The offence had resulted from a "momentary inattention" on the part of Khan, whose long career was devoted to helping others.

The barrister described Khan as a "kind man," never before in trouble.

The defendant accepted he made a "very bad decision" by driving away from the scene, but he recalled feeling panicked and suffering extreme chest pains.

"He's consumed with remorse," said the barrister, pointing out that Khan did return to the crash scene an hour after the accident with his wife.

Recorder Mark Rhind QC will complete the sentencing exercise tomorrow morning.