An elderly woman who died after she was struck by a cab in the car park of Bradford Interchange had been on her way to visit her severely autistic son, an inquest has heard.

Jean Taylor, 87, of Bradford Road, Birkenshaw, had just been dropped off and was walking in front of another cab when it moved off, catching her leg in its wheel and throwing her to the ground.

Mrs Taylor was taken to Leeds General Infirmary with head and leg wounds but died in the A&E department four hours after the accident just after 7am on August 10 last year.

The inquest in Bradford was yesterday told Mrs Taylor had been heading to get a National Express coach to Sheffield to see her son who lives in a care home.

Assistant Bradford Coroner Dr Dominic Bell was also told cab driver Mohammed Meharban, who attended the hearing, had since pleaded guilty to causing her death by careless driving.

He had initially looked both ways but failed to check again before driving off.

Meharban, who was sentenced to a 12-month community order by Bradford and Keighley magistrates, apologised for causing Mrs Taylor’s death.

He said: “I feel very sorry about what happened. It will stay with me for the rest of my life. I made one mistake for not looking right the second time.”

Detective Sergeant Carol Greaves, of West Yorkshire’s Major Collision Enquiry Team, said “emotional and traumatic” CCTV footage had clearly shown what had happened that day.

“Mr Meharban categorically said he did not want to view it but his solicitor did. We intimated had he done his checks properly he would have seen the lady before setting off. It was a momentary lapse of concentration,” she said.

Meharban had been driving at the Interchange for 16 years and had held a licence from 1984 with no points.

The inquest heard Mrs Taylor had generally been in good health.

Collision investigator Andrew Oversby said the road surface and Meharban’s Skoda car had both been defect-free so had not been contributory factors in what happened.

Dr Bell recorded a verdict that Mrs Taylor died as a result of a road traffic collision.