Biker and driver jailed for killing ‘blameless’ mother in ‘catastrophic’ West Lothian high-speed crash
A motorcyclist and car driver have been jailed after their “grossly excessive” speeding caused a five-vehicle crash that cost a mum-of-one her life.
Biker Ashley Sadler, 41, was caught on camera travelling at up to 118mph on a Honda CBR 1000 Fireblade shortly before the smash that led to the death of Fiona Reid, 37.
Daniel De Monerri, 38, was driving a Volkswagen Golf R and reached 90mph before the fatal collision on the A7066 at Bathgate, West Lothian, on 6 July 2020.
A judge told the pair at the High Court in Edinburgh[1] today the excessive high speeds at which they were both driving resulted in “catastrophic consequences” and the death of a woman who was “entirely blameless”.
Lord Weir said: “No sentence I can pass can ever compensate for the loss of a loved one.”
Sadler was jailed for four-and-a-half years and disqualified from driving for 87 months.
De Monerri was sentenced to four years and two months in jail and was banned from driving for 80 months.
The men, both from Livingston, will have to sit extended tests before being able to drive again.
‘Absolutely gunning it’
Production manager Sadler and engineer De Monerri earlier admitted causing the death of Mrs Reid by driving dangerously at grossly excessive speeds.
They repeatedly switched lanes, and drove in close proximity to each other and other road users.
Witnesses reported seeing Sadler, De Monerri and another motorcyclist speeding before the collision.
An employee at a branch of Screwfix heard the motorbikes and said they were “absolutely gunning it”.
Sadler then struck a car, which caused him to be thrown off his bike.
De Monerri then hit the other biker before losing control of his Golf and smashing into Mrs Reid’s Audi.
‘I have taken a mother away from her daughter’
Prosecutor Alex Prentice KC told the court Mrs Reid was married and had a seven-year-old daughter at the time of her death.
He said: “The force of the collision resulted in Fiona Reid’s seat being broken and she was propelled backwards suffering a catastrophic head injury from which she died.”
Defence counsel Tony Lenehan KC said Sadler was a “decent, hard-working, family man” and was “devastated to know he played a part in the loss of another person’s life”.
Solicitor advocate Ewen Roy, for De Monerri, added: “I have to accept on his behalf that if he had been travelling at a safe and normal speed this accident would not have happened.”
Within De Monerri’s background report, he reportedly said: “I have taken a mother away from her daughter and I need to live with that.”
References
- ^ Edinburgh (news.sky.com)
- ^ Man who raped girl, 14, jailed for seven years (news.sky.com)
- ^ Glasgow man jailed for delivering ‘wages’ to gangland figures (news.sky.com)