A woman pillion rider’s life has been changed forever after she lost the lower part of her left leg after the machine she was riding was struck by a pensioner’s car.

The victim was airlifted to hospital following the crash near Chirk and she had to receive a dozen operations.

At Flintshire Magistrates’ Court in Mold, car driver Walter Henry Chaplin, 71, admitted careless driving after the incident on Sunday, July 31 last year.

Chaplin was fined £523 with costs of £85 and a £52 victim surcharge. Six penalty points were placed on his driving licence.

The court heard he did a U-turn in a line of almost stationary traffic, but had not seen the scooter approach as it overtook.

Chaplin, of Burlton Hall, Burlton, Shrewsbury, was said to be deeply remorseful for what had happened, but accepted fully the case against him. 

It was appreciated it was his responsibility to conduct a safe manoeuvre and he had pleaded guilty.

Magistrates said the victim impact statement read to the court was very moving. They said it showed the impact such incidents had on people’s lives.

Prosecutor Brian Robinson said Chaplin was driving a white Volvo XC90 sports utility vehicle while the victim, Sarah Bridgid Baker, 52, was the passenger on a Honda Silverwing scooter ridden by her friend Stuart Gary Gretton, an experienced rider of more than 20 years and a fire service emergency response driver.

They were returning home to the West Midlands from a day out in Wales. After fish and chips at the Horseshoe Pass on a fine day, she was enjoying the views.

As Mr Gratton filtered past the line of traffic at a slow speed he recalled a flash of white and being on his back, struggling to breathe. He realised they had been knocked off the machine and a man approached, apologising and saying he had not seen him.

Miss Baker saw a large white vehicle starting to pull forward towards her and put her hands up to push the vehicle away as she knew it was going to hit her leg.

But there was nothing she could do and the car hit her left leg about mid-thigh height.

She was in constant pain and remembered spinning around before landing on her back.

The prosecutor told how she had never felt so much pain and was airlifted to Stoke Hospital due to her significant injuries.

In a moving victim impact statement read to the court, Miss Baker said they were travelling at about 20 mph followed by three other motorcyclists “when all of a sudden out of the corner of my eye I saw a large white vehicle suddenly start to pull out”.

It was as if everything went into slow motion. She raised her hands to try and push it away, but the vehicle hit her.

She said she could not describe the pain and did not remember much about the helicopter journey or being in hospital to start with. The next thing she remembered was waking up with a large cage over her leg. She had to have 12 operations, two of which were skin grafts.

She would never be able to drive a manual car, had just 70 per cent use of her leg and could no longer run, Thai box or go to the gym.

In her statement, she said she could not wear skirts as she did not want people to see her leg, and she now walked with a limp and used a stick. She previously enjoyed motorcycle trips to Europe, but could never get on a motorbike again.

“I have a lower left leg that could be described as a kebab,” she said.

She had felt she was an attractive 52-year-old with an active life, who enjoyed sports, kept herself fit and loved going out dancing with friends.

“I’ll never forget that car, the fear of hanging on to the scooter, the pain, and the fear of not knowing if she was going to die,” she said. 

“Part of my life has changed. The life I enjoyed has gone and the person I was has gone.

“I feel that on July 31 I lost not just part of my leg, but the person I was and the wonderful life I had.”