A speeding driver who killed two women on a pedestrian crossing has been jailed for nearly five years and banned from driving for a decade.
James Clunie mowed down Jane MacDonald and Abby Hucknall as they went to a supermarket in Kirkcaldy, Fife.
The 36-year-old motorcycle mechanic earlier pled guilty to causing their deaths by careless driving and admitted driving dangerously in the five weeks before the crash.
A tracking device fitted to his powerful Land Rover Discovery showed he had been driving at speeds of up to 115mph on A roads and at more than three times the 20mph limit through a village.
Brian McConnachie QC, defending, said: "He can't undo what he's done. He deeply regrets his actions."
Passing sentence at the High Court in Livingston yesterday, Judge Lord Turnbull described the father-of-three's attitude to the safety of other road users as "utterly contemptuous".
He said: "You have pled guilty, at a very late stage, to two charges which reflect the most appalling catalogue of irresponsible and inappropriate driving.
"The circumstances and manner of your driving as described to me in relation to charge one were truly extraordinary and shocking. It is clear that from the moment you took temporary possession of the Land Rover Discovery motor vehicle you consistently drove it in an utterly reckless and irresponsible manner.",
Clunie had appeared in court 46 times since he was 16 and had been disqualified from driving on three occasions. He had been convicted again for speeding shortly before the fatal accident in Dunnikier Way, Kirkcaldy, on November 27, 2012.
Ms MacDonald, 38, and Ms Hucknall, 18, were walking to Asda in the early evening and died at the scene.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article