Killer driver who claimed ‘ bin lorry faint’ facing jail
A BUSINESSMAN who claimed he suffered from the same ‘fainting’ condition as Glasgow bin lorry tragedy dri ver harry Clarke was yesterday convicted of killing a pensioner by dangerous driving.
In an echo of the incident in which six people died, Vincent Friel, 44, said he passed out moments before his range rover hit Charlotte Collins, 68, at a pedestrian crossing.
The high Court in edinburgh heard Miss Collins and her cousin Margaret haldane, 69, were struck by the 4x4 near Glasgow’s Silverburn shopping centre. Miss Collins, from the city’s Pollok area, died in hospital after the January 2014 incident on Barrhead road.
london-based Miss haldane was injured.
Friel, who owns a property letting business, was taking medication for various conditions. his lawyer claimed this caused his blood pressure to drop to such a low level he fainted.
Iain Duguid, QC, told jurors there was not enough evidence to convict Friel because he was not in control of his actions at the time of the incident.
Clarke was diagnosed with Vasovagal syndrome after he reported blacking out in 2010.
Cardiologist Dr Andrew Flapan said it was ‘ extremely unlikely’ that Friel had fainted at the wheel. The jury found Friel guilty of causing the death of Miss Collins and the serious injury of Miss haldane by driving dangerously.
Temporary judge John Morris, QC, deferred sentence to obtain character reports. But he warned Friel, of rutherglen, lanarkshire: ‘ A custodial sentence is inevitable.’
Friel had earlier told the court: ‘ I’m just devastated. It has affected me greatly.
‘I can’t believe any of this. It could have been my own mother.’
But the court heard that, in the moments following the collision, Friel told a police officer he could not remember what
Emotional statement
had happened. he also said he wanted to consult a lawyer before speaking to her.
Friel told prosecution lawyer Iain McSporran: ‘I didn’t feel comfortable.
‘I wanted to speak to a lawyer to get some advice. I was in shock. I was in total shock.’
Mr McSporran also submitted a victim impact statement from relatives of the deceased, but said he did not want to read the contents of the ‘emotional’ statement in open court.
Judge Morris continued bail until the sentencing hearing at the high Court in Glasgow on March 16.
Friel had to be helped from court by friends.
he left the building in tears and was driven away in an Audi Q7 vehicle.