Ex-cop who killed wife’s aunt in ‘catastrophic’ car crash jailed

A former police officer who killed his wife's aunt in a "catastrophic" car crash has been jailed for two years. Andrew Hyams, 63, was imprisoned at the High Court in Livingston after earlier pleading guilty to causing the death of 88-year-old Annie Sinclair and serious injury to van driver Carl Egerton by driving dangerously.[1]

Passing sentence [2], judge Lord Mulholland told Hyams: "It was clear to me from the footage of the collision that I watched, that you were entirely at fault and that your driving was dangerous. You crossed into the carriageway for traffic travelling in the opposite direction to you, took no action to avoid the collision and collided head on into a van whose driver Carl Egerton was blameless in all this."

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Lord Mulholland said mechanical defects, road conditions, weather conditions, and sleep had all been ruled out as possible causes of the crash [3] on the A737 between Kilwinning and Dalry, North Ayrshire on January 9, 2024. He continued: "It was not a momentarily lapse of attention as you had time before the collision to take evasive action.

Livingston High Court -Credit:West Lothian Courier

"The consequences of your dangerous driving were catastrophic as your aunt died at the scene from her injuries and Mr Egerton was seriously injured and is still suffering the consequences of his injuries."

The ex-Merseyside Police officer was driving Mrs Sinclair, his wife's aunt, to his home in Saltcoats that day. The deceased pensioner [4] had been due to be a guest at Hyams remarriage after three years of divorce from his ex-wife the following day .

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Mr Egerton - who worked for a property repair firm - was heading home in the opposite direction. The court [5] heard Hyams failed to negotiate a left hand bend, crossed the centre line narrowly missing another vehicle and drove straight into the path of Mr Egerton's van.

Their two vehicles collided head on, resulting in extensive damage to both the van and the car and bringing the vehicles to an abrupt halt. Mr Egerton later told police [6] that Hyams' car had not been speeding but said the driver wasn't doing anything to "get back to his own side of the road, slow down or brake".

The van driver was found to have suffered a fractured sternum as well as cuts and bruises and was unable to work for six months.

He was later re-admitted to hospital [7] to have a metal plate fixed to his breastbone.

Mrs Sinclair, a passenger in Hyams' Mondeo, sustained "unsurvivable" chest injuries and was pronounced dead [8] at the scene. Her only son sat quietly in court on Friday to watch the man to blame for his mother's death being sentenced. Advertisement

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Ian Duguid KC, defending, said Hyams was still unable to account for the length of time he was on the wrong side of the road.

He added that, even though his client's speed had not been excessive, there had been such tragic consequences that a custodial sentence [9]was inevitable.

He said Hyams, who had retired from the police [10] after 27-years' service five years before the fatal accident, was filled with remorse and wished to apologise for his actions. He said his client had later remarried his wife who regarded Mrs Sinclair as her "favourite relative."

Lord Mulholland said the consequences [11] of the accused's dangerous driving had been catastrophic as his aunt had died at the scene from her injuries and Mr Egerton was seriously hurt and was still suffering the consequences of his injuries.

He went on: "As your counsel rightly said, a prison sentence is inevitable given the Scottish sentencing guidelines which govern this matter. I agree with your counsel that this is a level C offence, applying the guidelines.

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"Taking account of the aggravating and mitigatory factors, I assess the headline sentence as three years imprisonment.

Taking account of the timing of the plea of guilty, the sentence will be 2 years imprisonment from today."

He said Hyams would be disqualified from driving [12] and obtaining a driving licence for nine years and until he sat and passed his extended test.

His licence would also be endorsed.

Hyams turned to wave to his wife and two men in the public gallery before he was led to the cells to begin his sentence [13].

References

^ driving dangerously. (www.dailyrecord.co.uk)
^ Passing sentence (www.dailyrecord.co.uk)
^ causes of the crash (www.dailyrecord.co.uk)
^ deceased pensioner (www.dailyrecord.co.uk)
^ court (www.dailyrecord.co.uk)
^ police (www.dailyrecord.co.uk)
^ hospital (www.dailyrecord.co.uk)
^ dead (www.dailyrecord.co.uk)
^ custodial sentence (www.dailyrecord.co.uk)
^ police (www.dailyrecord.co.uk)
^ consequences (www.dailyrecord.co.uk)
^ disqualified from driving (www.dailyrecord.co.uk)
^ sentence (www.dailyrecord.co.uk)