A 71-YEAR-OLD pensioner who wrote off two cars and nearly ploughed into a bus queue may never drive again, York magistrates heard.

Kenneth Philip Richardson drove on in a badly damaged Mazda leaving shocked pedestrians and a wrecked Citroen behind him in a residential street, said Katherine Smith, prosecuting.

His car was untaxed and didn’t have a valid MOT certificate.

Duty solicitor Nigel Boddy said Richardson couldn’t explain why he drove the way he did in Strensall.

“Something must have distracted him which caused the collision,” he said. “He doesn’t intend to drive himself again in future.”

He had three points on his licence for speeding in 2016 and had failed to give his details in connection with a motoring matter in 2017.

Magistrates banned Richardson from driving for 12 months. They also fined him £120, plus a £30 statutory surcharge and £85 prosecution costs.

Richardson, of Ponderosa Caravan Park, Sutton-on-the-Forest, pleaded guilty to careless driving, failure to stop, failure to report an accident, and not having an MOT certificate.

Mrs Smith said Richardson was driving a Mazda 6 along York Road, Strensall, on June 4 when he “veered to the left side of the road, narrowly missing pedestrians standing at a bus stop”.

The 71-year-old crashed into the Citroen which was parked in a layby by the side of the road and drove off, but an eyewitness took his numberplate and alerted police.

A victim personal statement from the Citroen’s owner said it had been worth £5,000 and had to be written off.

Richardson drove on to a Wigginton garage where he left his car, claiming it had been damaged in a Tesco car park.

The car’s tax had expired on May 1 and the MOT certificate on April 26.

When police tracked him down, he claimed there had been something wrong with the car’s steering and then changed his story, said Mrs Smith.

Mr Boddy said: “He no longer has a car because his own car was written off. He doesn’t intend to purchase a new one.”

Richardson would in future use the “very good” bus service for the caravan park where he lives, the court heard.