Asked police whether they had any real criminals to catch
An 87-year-old woman from Ramsey who didn’t know she’d hit a parked van later asked police whether they had any real criminals to catch and whether she’d be front-page news.
Patricia McRae Freeman, of Ormly Road, admitted four offences via a coroner’s admission at a hearing before magistrates at Douglas courthouse.
She pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention, having car tax that expired 10 months earlier, failing to stop after a crash and failing to report an accident on 21 February.
Prosecution advocate Barry Swain said Freeman had been driving along Bowring Road in Ramsey at around 11.30am in her Ford Fiesta.
The court heard she clipped the side of a parked Post Office van, smashing off its wing mirror, but continued on her way without stopping.
A witness saw the incident, reported it and police went to her home four days later to talk to her about it, but she said she only remembered a vague bump or scratch.
Freeman also asked officers whether they didn’t have any murders to investigate and whether her case would make the front page of the newspaper.
She was fined a total of £700, ordered to pay £120 compensation to the Post Office and £50 prosecution costs.
Magistrates also imposed five penalty points on her driving licence.
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