A person who has by no means held a full driving licence triggered a mum-of-three’s dying in a horrific head-on automobile crash.
Travelling salesman David MacDonald, 43, drove across the nation on a provisional licence for nearly 24 years and lied about holding a full licence in an effort to get insurance coverage cowl.
The staggering revelation got here on the finish of a trial on the Excessive Courtroom in Livingston right this moment, wherein a jury discovered MacDonald responsible of inflicting the dying of 45-year-old Leeanne Aitken by driving his Audi Q7 with out due care and a focus. MacDonald, from Paisley, had denied he was driving dangerously within the moments earlier than the crash in Livingston on January 8, 2020.
The affect of the smash was so extreme that Leeanne's automobile’s engine was pushed rearwards by way of the bulkhead into the passenger compartment. She suffered catastrophic accidents together with a burst coronary heart, bleeding on the mind and a number of fractures and inner accidents. She was pronounced useless on the scene.
MacDonald was convicted of the lesser offence of careless driving after claiming in his defence that he believed he was on a twin carriageway and “on autopilot” on the time of the accident. Unknown to the jury, he pleaded responsible earlier than his trial began to acquiring a motor insurance coverage coverage by fraud from Tesco Underwriting Ltd on September 10, 2019, at his former house in Kilwinning, North Ayrshire.
Jurors weren’t advised in regards to the insurance coverage fraud till after they returned their verdict due to the premise that details about earlier or pending convictions may prejudice their judgement. Following the unanimous responsible verdict, advocate depute Isabella Ennis moved that the accused needs to be remanded in custody as a result of “an inexpensive sentence was one in every of imprisonment”.
Choose Lord Lake rejected her suggestion and referred to as for a social work report into MacDonald’s background earlier than sentence to determine whether or not every other out there disposal was acceptable. He ordered the accused to give up any driving licence he held to the court docket and imposed an interim disqualification from driving within the meantime. He allowed MacDonald to stay at liberty on bail meantime.
Leeanne, from Livingston, West Lothian, was driving a detailed household good friend house from her work at a quick meals restaurant when MacDonald’s Audi Q7 crashed head on into her Ford Mondeo.
Her 19-year-old entrance seat passenger Sofia Crichton sustained extreme head accidents, together with bleeding and bruising on the mind, damaged neck bones, smashed facial bones and a number of fractures to her ribs, hip, knee and leg. She spent 10 weeks in hospital earlier than being discharged for rehabilitation.
By likelihood, Leeanne’s son Graham Tait, 24, had been following his mum’s automobile as a result of he wished to interrupt the excellent news that he had been supplied a brand new job. He was one of many first on the scene of the tragic accident on the A705, Cousland Highway, in Livingston, however was unable to save lots of her.
Police closed the street for greater than seven hours whereas consultants probed the reason for the deadly crash. Accident investigator PC Craig Anderson advised the court docket: “The phrase carnage involves thoughts. There was intensive particles with glass and oil everywhere in the street floor.”
He stated he later discovered gouge marks within the street on the level of affect the place MacDonald, on the improper facet of the street, had ploughed into the Mondeo. He revealed that Leeanne had tried to swerve onto the nearside verge on the final minute however had been prevented from taking evasive motion any earlier due to a crash barrier on her facet of the street.
His report concluded: “It’s the investigators’ opinion that full accountability for this collision rests with the motive force of the Audi, David MacDonald.”
MacDonald admitted ignoring apparent street markings that made it apparent he was driving on the improper facet of a two-way street and never a twin carriageway. He claimed he had not seen a white arrow mark going through in the other way, a number of massive the other way up 40mph pace restrict indicators painted on the street for site visitors going the opposite approach and the rear of street indicators going through oncoming automobiles.
For between 10 and 15 seconds he additionally did not see Leeanne Aitken’s Ford Mondeo and a Honda CRV with a four-year-old woman inside heading in direction of his Audi Q7, and collided with each of them, damaging all three vehicles. The primary offender is because of be sentenced at Edinburgh Excessive Courtroom on September 30.
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