THE FAMILY of a 'beautiful and talented' student killed in a horror head-on smash with a tipper truck driving the wrong way on the A1 have paid a moving tribute to her.
They spoke out after 57-year-old tipper truck driver Michael Friel admitted killing a student in a head-on crash after driving along a dual carriageway in the wrong direction.
Other motorists swerved to avoid the driver as he drove along the A1 in East Lothian before smashing into Meghan Ambrozevich-Blair's car.
The 26-year-old student suffered multiple injuries in the crash near Dunbar on 9 December 2016.
She died despite efforts to save her by an off-duty doctor and her fiance, who had been walking his dog in a nearby field.
At the High Court in Edinburgh Friel admitted causing her death by dangerous driving between the Spott and Thistly Cross roundabouts, , after performing a three-point turn and driving the wrong way in the face of oncoming traffic.
Judge Lord Arthurson deferred sentence on Friel for background reports and told him the court was considering a "substantial custodial sentence".
The family said in a statement: “On the morning of the 9 December 2016 our world fell apart when our beautiful Meghan was taken from us.
"Meghan was talented, caring and loving in every way. She loved life and had it all in front of her.
“We lost an incredible daughter and sister, and her fiancé lost his soul mate and the family they planned to have.
“The suffering we have endured over the last two years since that day has been horrendous – we never thought it was possible to be in so much pain and still be alive.
“Days that were happy are now sad and our lives will never be the same again.
They added: “Every driver who gets behind the wheel of a vehicle on public roads bears a huge responsibility to drive safely, within the rules, and abide by the law.
“They must also be held accountable for their actions when they cause pain and suffering to others.
“Like so many other tragedies, Meghan lost her life in a crash that need not have happened.
“We have faith that whatever punishment the court decides to impose will reflect the severity of this crime.
"We'd like to thank everyone for their love and continuing support."
The High Court in Edinburgh heard that Miss Ambrozevich-Blair, who was a keen animal lover, was posthumously awarded a first class honours degree in veterinary nursing from Edinburgh Napier University.
Advocate depute Alex Prenctice QC said Miss Ambrozevich-Blair had left her home at Haines Drive, in Dunbar, on the dark morning to drive to her part-time job at 'Vets for Pets' at Straiton retail park, at Loanhead, before the collision.
Friel had also set off for work from his sister's home in Dunbar in the Ford Transit tipper heading for Little Spott, in East Lothian.
Mr Prentice said: "He joined the A1 southbound and had almost reached Torness nuclear power station before realising he was travelling in the wrong direction for his destination."
He stopped and called his brother, who he worked for, and was told to return north to the Spott roundabout and wait for him at a supermarket.
Friel missed the turn at the roundabout and continued north on the A1 before realising that he had made a mistake and pulled up and began making a three-point turn.
One motorist negotiated a way past him and saw in his rearview mirror that the tipper was now being driven down the northbound carriageway in the wrong direction.
Mr Prentice said: "The accused drove in a southerly direction in the northbound carriageway. He encountered a number of vehicles travelling north at speed."
"The drivers in five vehicles had to take immediate action by swerving and flashing headlights to avoid colliding with the accused's vehicle. Two other drivers saw the accused's vehicle and flashed headlights to alert him to their presence," said the prosecutor.
Mr Prentice said: "Two drivers noticed the accused appeared to be oblivious to the danger presented and that he was staring straight ahead while driving."
He said that Miss Ambrozevich-Blair was not travelling at excessive speed but overtook another driver who heard a loud bang after she took a bend and came on the crash 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 here