Cows and calf euthanised after Islay road accident

Two cows and a calf had to be humanely killed after a road crash on Islay left them badly injured on a single track road through unfenced grazing.

Another calf survived but needed treatment.

In the dock was William James Monaghan, aged 19, of Emerivale, Port Ellen, who admitted driving without due care and attention on the C16 road near to Kilchiaran Farm on September 21 last year by driving at excessive speed for the road conditions and striking a herd of cattle causing two cows and a calf to be euthanised.

Procurator fiscal depute Kavin Ryan-Hulme told the November sitting of Campbeltown Sheriff Court that the farmer heard a loud car engine, looked out of the window and saw brake lights and a stopped car down the road.

He thought nothing of it until he went out later and found a cow lying at the side of the road.

‘It was bleeding badly from an injury to its right hind-leg. The police and a vet were called and the beast had to be euthanised,’ said the fiscal.

The immediate area was searched but it was not until a wider search at first light that the other injured livestock were found, a cow and two calves.

The cow and a calf were euthanised and the other calf received treatment.

Police measured 20 metre-long skid marks at the scene. Monaghan went to the police station at Bowmore and told officers he had been involved in the accident.

His defence agent said Monaghan had negotiated the brow of a hill and a sharp bend and the cattle came into view.

He immediately executed an emergency stop but it was too late and there was something ‘like a domino effect thereafter’.

Monaghan passed his test in November 2020 and was classed as a new driver under legislation.

Sheriff Patrick Hughes fined him £400 with a £20 victim surcharge and ordered an eight-month driving disqualification and Monaghan’s licence endorsed.

He also pointed out that it was not the role of the sheriff court to order compensation for the cattle where a driver was insured; this would be paid through other channels.

The sheriff also wanted to bring home to people in the area the need for safe driving at all times.

He said: ‘It was cattle; it could have been another vehicle, cyclists or pedestrians.’