The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Driver guilty of causing death of father of two
COURT: Cupar dad died in early-morning crash on Kirkcaldy road
A 56-year old Fife man has been found guilty of causing the death of a cyclist and father of two in an accident in Kirkcaldy which happened almost two years ago.
On the third day of his trial at the High Court in Edinburgh, a jury unanimously found David Gordon, from Dysart, guilty of causing the death of Gary Christie, 38, from Cupar, by careless driving. A charge of causing death by dangerous driving was not proven.
Mr Christie died in Western General Hospital in Edinburgh two weeks after the accident on Carberry Road on November 1 2016
Gordon was accused of driving his red Vauxhall Corsa in the early hours of the morning while the windscreen was obscured, crossing over into the opposing carriageway to overtake a cyclist when it was not safe to do so and colliding with Mr Christie on his mountain bike, causing severe injury and death.
Joiner Scott Shields, the cyclist whom Gordon overtook, told the court it was dry, but frosty at around 6.30am when he was cycling up the road towards the brow of the hill on the unclassified road.
He saw another cyclist, Mr Christie, coming in the opposite direction. Mr Christie had flashing lights on his cycle.
Mr Shields said: “I heard a bang just a second after he (the motorist) past. I got off my bike and ran to the guy (other cyclist) lying on the road”.
The other cyclist was unresponsive. A young lady had arrived, he said, and he asked if she had a phone and contacted the ambulance service.
The lady, Anna Kurowska, saw a red car going past one cyclist and trying to pass another when she heard a noise. She saw a man fly over the front of the car and fall to the ground.
PC Paul MacPherson, accident investigator, said there was moisture in the air, the sun was just coming up and there was dew on the road.
The cyclist, who had been knocked down was wearing a dark blue helmet, black cycling top with white side panels and black cycling trousers with white stripes.
There had been a head-on impact between the car and cycle with the bike’s front wheel lodged into the front grill of the car and the cyclist being ejected over the car after hitting the windscreen.
PC MacPherson said there was condensation on the car’s windscreen that could have led to loss of visibility.
Defence counsel Tim Niven Smith told the officer that his client had returned to his car after the accident to make a phone call to his workplace and had been there for six minutes breathing heavily. Could that have caused the windscreen to mist up? he asked. “Yes” was the reply.
When the jury returned their verdict it was revealed that Gordon had previous road traffic offences, including two for speeding.
Judge Lord Menzies deferred sentence until October 12 for reports, disqualified Gordon from driving and ordered him to hand in any driving licence he had to Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court.