Man gets four years for horror smash which killed mother

A SPEEDING driver who claimed he was a “stupid idiot” after he killed a mum and seriously injured her friend in a horror crash has been jailed for four years.

Jordan Roddie, 26, lost control of his Ford Focus before ploughing head on into a Vauxhall Zafira on the A73 near Braidwood, Lanarkshire on March 3 last year.

Eileen Thomson, 66, was a passenger in that car which was being driven by 48-year-old Catherine Donnelly.

Both women were employed to take children to and from school and had just dropped the last pupil home when tragedy struck.

Mum of two Eileen never survived while Catherine now uses a wheelchair.

Roddie was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow having earlier admitted to causing the death of Eileen and seriously injuring Catherine due to dangerous driving.

Lord Burns cut the jail term from six years due to the guilty plea.

The judge told Roddie: “Your driving caused the death of Eileen Thomson, devastating her family.

“And you also caused bad injuries to Catherine Donnelly, which she will have to deal with for the rest of her life.”

Delivery worker Roddie was also banned from the road for the next 10 years.

The court heard how the limit on the stretch of road was 60mph – but one motorist stated Roddie “must have been going over 70mph at least”.

A retired police officer who was also driving on the A73 clocked the back of Roddie’s Ford “moving uncontrollably” from side to side.

Janice Green, defending, said: “His remorse is genuine and is not a cynical attempt for sympathy.”