A PRIMARY school teacher has been banned from the road after admitting causing the death of a mother-of-four by careless driving.
Three of Kirsty Parker’s children were in the car when it was involved in a head-on collision with a Peugeot driven by 28-year-old Roddy Graham in the Borders.
Jedburgh Sheriff Court was told a “momentary lack of attention” resulted in Graham swerving on to the opposite carriageway to avoid colliding with a Ford Transit van and into the path of Ms Parker’s Vauxhall Zafira. His lawyer Ed Hulme told the court his client had not noticed the van he was following from a safe distance slowing down to turn right into a junction because the brake lights were not working.
He said at that precise moment the sun reflected in his eyes from the rear view mirror and Graham adjusted the mirror.
Mr Hulme said: “When he looked up the rear of the van was coming towards him and there was no time to avoid a collision. “He pulled over to one side as he did not think anything was coming but of course there was.”
He added: “The lack of brake lights on the van is a major factor here.”
Mr Hulme said Graham did not recall seeing an indicator light at the time either.
He explained it was an unfortunate series of events which had “devastating consequences,” not just for the victims but his client who had not driven since.
Graham, of Denholm, Roxburghshire, had various fractures and was off work for four months.
Ms Parker, 34, also from Denholm, suffered a fatal neck injury and her three sons, aged one, nine and 12 had minor injuries following the collision on the A698 road near Denholm on February 11 last year. Graham was disqualified from driving for 12 months and ordered to carry out 90 hours of unpaid work as part of a one-year community pay back order as a direct alternative to custody.
Passing sentence, Sheriff Peter Paterson said he could not ignore the tragic consequences, but had to take into account the level of Denholm’s criminality.
He extended the court’s “sincere condolences” to the Parker family, adding: “If the driving was dangerous or of a wilful nature then that makes the criminality higher. There was a momentary lack of attention. That I have to accept and also to reflect that in the sentence.”
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