Motorist who killed mum while test driving high-powered car jailed
A speeding motorist who killed a mum while test driving a high-powered car has been jailed for six years and four months. Ian Stalker, 36, was behind the wheel of the Subaru Impreza when he hit Connie McAvoy, 46, near Cowglen Golf Club in Thornliebank, East Renfrewshire on December 14 2020. Connie had headphones on while out walking and her back to traffic when she was struck.
Stalker lost control of the vehicle, mounted the pavement before he “sheared” a bus stop pole from the ground. He eventually came to crashing halt after ploughing into a metal fence. Stalker was sentenced on Tuesday having pleaded guilty last month to a charge of causing death by dangerous driving at the High Court in Glasgow.
Lord Clark said: “I have read six victim impact statements which explain the tragic and harrowing consequences. “There is no sentence available to me that can alleviate the impact of her death on her family and friends. “The victim was a pedestrian walking on the pavement, vulnerable to a horrendous injury from the driving you did – you should have seen the pedestrian.”
The judge also disqualified from driving for eight years and two months. Prosecutor John Macpherson told how Stalker had agreed with a man to buy his Subaru for GBP5,000 if he could take it for a test drive. He was then in the motor with a friend as various witnesses described him going at speed and undertaking other cars.
Mr Macpherson said Stalker went on to “suddenly lose control” on Barrhead Road near the golf club. The Subaru mounted the kerb and then smashed into the bus stop pole. The advocate depute: “Moments later, the car collided with Connie McAvoy, who it seems was walking with her back to the Subaru and with her headphones in.
“The force of impact threw her first onto the bonnet then against the windscreen and onto the roof before being thrown back onto the pavement.” A woman immediately helped Connie and gave her CPR. The mum was soon rushed to hospital, but sadly never recovered.
She was found to have suffered “multiple injuries”. Crash investigators found Stalker, of the city’s Pollok, had lost control of the car and had been driving in excess of the 40mph limit. The motor had carried on after hitting Connie before smacking into a fence and a tree.
Mr Macpherson said: “The investigators concluded the responsibility for the collision lay with the driver.” The court was told Stalker had 27 previous convictions with two for driving offences. Victoria Young, defending, told the sentencing that her client expressed remorse and “acknowledges the loss suffered by her family.”
After the hearing last month, Connie’s family described the death as “tragic and avoidable”. In a statement released via Digby Brown Solicitors, they said: “All who were close to her miss her dearly and cannot describe the pain we feel from her absence. “That driver inflicted a pain on our family in ways that cannot be reflected in any criminal verdict or sentence.
“Our lives will simply never be the same.”
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