A MAN accused of being responsible for the death of a consultant pathologist in a road accident should never have driven because he suffered from severe tunnel vision, a court heard.

Retired accountant Ronald Addy, 82, of Murray Walk, Darlington, denies driving dangerously and causing the death of cyclist Dr Ceri Williams, who worked at the town's Memorial Hospital.

Jamie Hill, prosecuting, told Teesside Crown Court that Mr Addy suffered from a condition that severely restricted his field of vision and he was said to have agreed with an eye specialist that he was no longer fit to drive.

He said: "The prosecution says that the defendant was driving knowing he had tunnel vision, when quite frankly he should never have been anywhere near a car."

Dr Williams, 47, who left a wife Gaynor, a midwife, and two sons and a daughter, suffered fatal head injuries after he was involved in a collision with Mr Addy's VW Polo car on the B6279 road between Staindrop and Darlington, on April 3, last year.

The collision happened on a straight stretch of the road just past the Walworth crossroads on a dry, sunny evening with little traffic.

Dr Williams, who was wearing cycling clothes and a helmet, was riding towards Darlington with Mr Addy travelling in the same direction.

Mr Hill said a witness, Kathleen Metcalfe, who was driving on the opposite side of the road, saw the defendant approach Dr Williams from behind and anticipated that he would slow down to pass the cyclist.

"To her amazement and disbelief, Mr Addy did not slow down or deviate, he kept going and collided with him," said Mr Hill.

Despite the heavy impact, the court was told, Mr Addy drove on and continued his journey home.

He later contacted police, having seen an appeal for witnesses, and told officers he was not aware he had been in an accident and thought he had struck a kerb or a piece of wood.

He denied having had a conversation with his eye surgeon about whether his vision was good enough to drive.

Mr Addy was excused from sitting in the dock during the first day of the trial yesterday because of poor health.

Earlier, Judge Michael Taylor told the jury that this was a terribly tragic case, which he anticipated would last a week.