Dundee van driver caused death of mother of three

Man made no attempt to brake or avoid a head-on collision

A van driver who caused the death of a mother-of-three after overtaking approaching a blind crest in the road has been remanded in custody.

Andrew Reilly made no attempt to brake or avoid the head-on collision with a car in which Audrey Thom was a passenger, a court heard.

The driver of the car, Mrs Thom’s daughter Louise, was confronted with Reilly’s van driving directly at her on her side of the road.

Advocate depute Adrian Cottam said: “Louise Thom was unable to take evasive action as there were trees on the left hand side of the road and another vehicle in the carriageway on the right.”

The prosecutor told the High Court in Edinburgh: “She had, in effect, ‘nowhere to go’.”

Despite braking hard, Miss Thom could not avoid the crash on the A914 Balmullo to Dairsie road in Fife.

Emergency services took Miss Thom, 27, and her 58-year-old mother to hospital but the older woman’s condition worsened and she later died.

Mr Cottam said police investigating the collision concluded Reilly carried out a late overtaking manoeuvre as he approached. and reached, solid white lines on the road.

The prosecutor said they also concluded: “For an unknown reason he did not see, or ignored, the warning arrows and the solid white lines prohibiting from overtaking.”

They also reached the view Reilly either did not see or did not react to the sight of Miss Thom’s headlights until it was too late to avoid the collision.

Reilly, 29, of Palais Court, Dundee, admitted causing the death of Mrs Thom by driving the van dangerously on November 24, 2015.

The court heard the plumbing and heating engineer had previous convictions for driving without insurance and speeding.

Before the fatal collision a motorist had become aware of the Renault Traffic van driven by Reilly behind her and described it as being “too close for me to be comfortable”.

She had anticipated the van overtaking her but it did not and they continued along a straight stretch of road heading out of Balmullo.

As she approached the peak in the road she became aware of car headlights coming towards her and later realised the van had pulled out to pass her.

Mr Cottam said that in the immediate aftermath of the crash there did not appear to be any apparent medical risk to the lives of Miss Thom or her mother.

The prosecutor said Mrs Thom was in general good health but suffered from a condition called Kyphoscoliosis which could cause her respiratory problems.

He said that when seen at accident and emergency at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee Mrs Thom’s injuries were “not obviously life threatening”.

But her condition deteriorated and surgery was carried out to repair a cut artery. She later began to have breathing difficulties which impacted on her heart function and later died on November 26.

Michael O’Grady QC deferred sentence on Reilly for the preparation of a social inquiry report on him.

Audrey Thom died two days after the crash on November 24 2015.