Banned for a year, teacher who killed mum in road crash
A PRIMARY school teacher caused the death of a mother of four after he swerved to avoid a van and hit her car head-on, a court heard.
Three of Kirsty Parker’s four children were in the vehicle when it was hit by a Peugeot driven by Roddy Graham.
Jedburgh Sheriff Court was told a ‘momentary lack of attention’ resulted in Graham, 28, swerving to the opposite side of the road, to avoid hitting the rear of a slowing van, and into the path of Miss Parker’s Vauxhall Zafira.
His lawyer, Ed Hulme, explained that Graham had not noticed the van he was following from a safe distance slowing down to turn right because its brake lights were not working.
He said at that moment the sun reflected in his eyes from the rear view mirror and the driver adjusted the mirror.
Mr Hulme said: ‘When he looked up, the rear of the van was coming towards him and there was no time to avoid a collision.
‘He pulled over... he did not think anything was coming but of course there was. The lack of brake lights on the van is a major factor here.’
Mr Hulme said that Graham did not recall seeing an indicator light at the time either.
He explained it was an unfortunate series of events which had ‘devastating consequences’ for all parties. Graham, of Denholm, Roxburghshire, suffered various fractures in the incident and was off work for four months.
His lawyer told the court that his client had been so affected by the tragedy that he has not been behind the wheel of a car since the accident.
Miss Parker, 34, also from Denholm, suffered a fatal neck injury and her three sons, aged one, nine and 12 had minor injuries following the collision on the A698 near the village on Thursday, February 11, last year.
In court, Graham was disqualified from driving for 12 months and ordered to carry out 90 hours’ unpaid work as part of a one-year community payback order, which was imposed as a direct alternative to custody.
Sheriff Peter Paterson emphasised that in such cases, the level of criminality had to be taken into account.
He said: ‘The first thing I have to say is that the court extends its sincere condolences to all members of the family affected by this tragic event.
‘The court does not disregard the consequences however, but is primarily looking at the degree of wrongfulness involved.
‘When considering a sentence the court is primarily concerned with the criminality involved.
‘If the driving was dangerous or of a wilful nature, then that makes the criminality higher.
‘There was a momentary lack of attention – that I have to accept and also to reflect that in the sentence.’
In a statement issued through Police Scotland last year, Miss
‘She was devoted to her family’ ‘Momentary lack of attention’
Parker’s family said: ‘Kirsty was devoted to her family and we are still trying to come to terms with our tragic loss.
‘She was a much-loved mum to Jessica, 16, Kyle, 12, Mackenzie, nine, and John Paul, two, and planned to tie the knot with her fiancé, Chris, in September.
‘As a family we enjoyed many trips to the countryside to walk, camp and fish and we will cherish these fond memories forever.
‘We’d like to thank the local community for all their support so far at what has been an incredibly difficult time.’