A TRAIN manager killed a 77-year-old woman crossing a dual carriageway because he wasn’t paying enough attention to the road, a court was told.

Jonathan Regan, 34, of Myrtle Drive, Rogerstone, Newport, has gone on trial accused of causing the death of Pamela Blatchly by careless driving.

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The Great Western Railway boss denies the charge.

A jury heard the pensioner died after she was hit by the defendant’s Volkswagen Fox on the A48 in Castleton, Newport, on September 24, 2019.

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The city’s crown court was told how an air ambulance was sent but Mrs Blatchly was pronounced dead at the scene.

She was walking across the road after she had been shopping at an Esso garage where she bought milk, a bottle of wine and a newspaper.

Regan had been driving to meet a friend at a golf driving range and was travelling at between 32mph and 39mph when he struck her.

James Wilson, prosecuting, told the jury: “She suffered traumatic injuries and sadly died at the scene.

“The defendant said he had not seen her until he was 10 to 15 metres away from her.

“The prosecution’s case in a nutshell is that if he had been properly observing the road ahead, he would have seen Mrs Blatchly.”

He added police collision investigators claim he should have had a view from 140 metres away from her of her crossing the road.

It is alleged that would have given him five seconds to react and “sufficient time to see her and slow down”.

Mr Wilson said after the collision, “a witness described the defendant as being upset with his head in his hands”.

The prosecutor added that Regan told the police in an interview that Mrs Blatchly had been like a “zombie”.

Mr Wilson told the jury: “The defendant said she did not react to his presence.

“He said it was like the lights were on but there was no one home.”

The jury heard Regan’s car was not defective but were told air freshners in the vehicle might have impeded his view of the road.

The trial before Judge Catherine Richards continues.