collision

A LORRY driver who killed a husband and wife in a horror road smash has walked free from court.

David Scott, 33, failed to spot Mohammed and Shamim Rashid as they sat in queuing traffic on a slip road near Bellshill, Lanarkshire^[1].

2

Crash victim Shamim Rashid passed away following the collision in August 2022

His road sweeper ploughed into the back of their BMW 1 Series^[2] which was then forced forward and collided with another car.

Emergency services^[3] raced to the scene on the A725 in August 2022 and the Rashids, of Bellshill, were rushed to the Queen^[4] Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow^[5] for treatment.

Shamim, 66, died hours after arriving at hospital while Mohammed, 70, passed away from his injuries two weeks later.

Scott, of Blackwood, Lanarkshire, appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court and admitted causing death by careless driving.

“Data recovered showed that 4.5 seconds before the first recorded impact, the BMW^[6] began braking and was deemed to have stopped two seconds before the first recorded impact.

“David Scott was travelling behind the Rashid’s and failed to react to the traffic in front of him and collided with the rear of the BMW driven by Shamim Rashid which collided with the vehicle driven by Mr Bisset.”

She added: “The road traffic collision was the cause of the deaths of Mr and Mrs Rashid.”

The court was told Scott returned negative tests for alcohol and drugs.

John Scullion KC, defending, said: “Nothing said on Mr Scott’s behalf could ever alleviate the pain and suffering the family have had to endure since August 2022 and continue to suffer.

2

David Scott walked free asked killing a husband and wife in a horror crash

“He hopes that they might find some solace in his acceptance of responsibility for the collision and since the day of the collision he has displayed remorse which is both genuine and profound.”

Scullion said Scott had shown a level of remorse he had ‘rarely seen’ and urged the sheriff to impose a direct alternative to custody for the incident which he claimed had been caused by ‘momentary inattention’.

Sheriff Speir said he had read ‘heart-wrenching’ victim impact statements from the couple’s daughters.

He added: “I’m unable to agree that the collision was caused by momentary inattention rather there were significant shortcomings in the standard of your driving.

“I’m persuaded that there is an appropriate way of dealing with you without a custodial sentence but it should not take away from the serious impact that your driving has caused.”

References

1. ^{^} Lanarkshire (www.thescottishsun.co.uk)
2. ^{^} ploughed into the back of their BMW 1 Series (www.thescottishsun.co.uk)
3. ^{^} Emergency services (www.thescottishsun.co.uk)
4. ^{^} the Queen (www.thescottishsun.co.uk)
5. ^{^} Glasgow (www.thescottishsun.co.uk)
6. ^{^} BMW (www.thescottishsun.co.uk)