A PENSIONER died in hospital 10 days after being hit by a car as she was walking to a local shop near her Ludlow home to buy cigarettes and milk, a court heard.
Mary Guilbert, 70, suffered a leg injury in the accident around two years ago which left her housebound. She later developed pneumonia and was admitted to hospital.
At Shrewsbury Crown Court 21-year-old car driver Holly Farnsworth had been due to face trial on a charge of causing death by careless driving, but pleaded guilty.
Judge Peter Barrie said it was a "very sad occasion" and the defendant had now accepted that, albeit indirectly, that Mrs Guilbert's death was a result of her careless driving.
He said it was accepted that it had been a 'momentary lapse of attention' and that Farnsworth had stopped and tried to help, and had not been aware of the seriousness of Mrs Guilbert's leg injury.
Farnsworth, a hotel worker, of Hopesay, Craven Arms, was given a 12 month community order and must complete 80 hours unpaid work.
She was also disqualified from driving for a year and was ordered to pay £600 towards the substantial costs created by the involvement of a number of medical experts in the case.
Judge Barrie dismissed a charge relating to Farnsworth failure to report the accident to police and said he had dealt with the issue as an aggravating feature of case.
The court heard that Mrs Guilbert, of Poyner Close, was a smoker and had health problems, but was independent and had left her home early on April 13, 2013, to walk to the nearby shop.
Stefan Kolodynski, prosecuting, said Farnsworth, then aged 19, left her boyfriend's address in Sandpits Road in her Nissan Micra to drive to the Feathers Hotel in Ludlow where she worked.
Around 7am as she turned left into Livesey Road the victim was crossing the road and she was hit by the car and knocked to the ground.
Mr Kolodynski said the defendant stopped to help and Mrs Guilbert said she was alright and there was no obvious injury and the defendant went on her way.
Mrs Guilbert managed to get home, but it was later discovered she had a serious open V-shape wound to her lower right leg which was bleeding heavily. It left her immobile and housebound and she developed bronco-pneumonia from which she died 10 days later.
Farnsworth was traced by Susan Reeves, one of Mrs Guilbert's daughters, who was given the Micra registration, and the day after the accident had followed Farnsworth to work. There was a confrontation which became heated, but later the defendant contacted the police.   
Mark Heywood, for Farnsworth, said nothing could be said to ease the pain of Mrs Guilbert's relatives and his client had now taken responsibility for the chain of events that had taken the pensioner's life.
The court heard that at the time Farnsworth's mother had had a serious operation and Mr Heywood said her mind had momentarily been "elsewhere" which had had deeply tragic consequences.