MORE than 400 people have signed a petition pleading for leniency in the case of a doctor found guilty of hitting and killing a pensioner while driving his sports car.

Support for Dr Aloke Basu, 66, has swelled among his patients since the jury at Basildon Crown Court reached its verdict last month.

Staff at Deejay Pharmacy, which adjoins Dr Basu’s practice in Campfield Road, Shoebury, decided to start the petition to try to persuade Judge Alice Robinson to be sympathetic when she passes sentence on July 21.

Dilip Patel, one of the pharmacy’s owners, said: “Obviously, a life has been lost and that cannot be undone.

“We are not questioning the jury’s verdict, but we are saying that someone who has served the community for 36 years deserves to have that taken into account.

“The response we have had has been huge. Even before we started the petition, people were calling for us to do something like this.”

Dr Basu was suffering from cataracts in both eyes, advanced glaucoma and shortsightedness when his Porsche hit grandmother Shirley Watkins on February 5 last year.

The great-grandmother was yards from her home, in Bournemouth Park Road, Southend, when she crossed the dual carriageway in Eastern Avenue and was struck by the GP, who was taking his car for a wash.

Dr Basu, who had also recovered from a detached retina, was travelling at 43mph – just above the 40mph limit – and had not been drinking.

However, the two-week trial heard the GP had been advised at least twice to notify the DVLA of his eyesight problems.

The jury took nearly 14 hours to convict him of death by dangerous driving, ruling his actions fell short of those of a competent and careful driver because of his failure to report his problems to the Government agency.

Judge Robinson warned Dr Basu he was likely to be given a prison sentence when he returned to the court room.

Mr Patel said: “I have been here for 30 years and I know what he is like.

“You cannot take back what has been done, but all we want is for the judge to know what sort of person he is and take that into account.”