Drink driver jailed for killing son’s pal
Window cleaner tried to blame his victim for smash
A DRINK driver who killed his son’s best friend in a car smash was jailed for almost nine years yesterday.
James Watson, 38, got behind the wheel to travel to his home, which was less than a mile away.
But he lost control of the Ford Fiesta, which overturned. Passenger Brendon Main was crushed and died in hospital.
The High Court in Glasgow heard yesterday how Watson later tried to shift the blame onto the 18-year-old victim.
He told social workers compiling a pre- sentence report that he had been ‘distracted’ by the teenager trying to get out the car before the crash.
Watson, a window cleaner, was jailed for eight years and nine months after he admitted causing death by dangerous driving.
Judge Lord Burns, who banned him from driving for 15 years, said the sentence would have been longer but for the guilty plea.
He said that he found it ‘extraordinary’ that Watson had tried to blame his victim.
The court earlier heard how apprentice mechanic Mr Main drove Watson, the accused’s 18-year-old son Levi and another friend, Michael Smith, 17, to the Ythan Hotel in Newburgh, Aberdeenshire, on July 23, 2011.
The plan was for Mr Main to leave his Ford Fiesta overnight and the teenagers would stay with Watson.
Prosecutor Kath Harper said the group had about three rounds of drinks.
Despite this, when they left the hotel Watson decided to drive and the teenagers joined him in Mr Main’s car.
Prosecutor Kath Harper said: ‘Witnesses then describe seeing the Fiesta being driven extremely fast and with noises of a loud exhaust and changing up through the gears. The driver of another car travelling in the opposite direction stopped because of a concern of being hit by the Fiesta, which was, by then, out of control.’
Watson smashed into a parked Land Rover Freelander, hitting it so hard the 4x4 was forced onto the bonnet of a nearby Volvo.
The Fiesta went into a spin, struck a kerb and overturned.
When breath-tested, Watson was found to have 113mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. The legal limit is 80mg of alcohol.
Watson – who now lives in Dunblane, Perthshire, after moving from Newburgh – already had a conviction for careless driving.