Driver avoids custodial sentence over fatal crash

Fife driver admits causing death of elderly woman after A909 collision

A teenager caused a fatal car crash in which a woman died just 11 days after he passed his driving test.

Kieran Wylie was 18 years old when he lost control of his car on a bend, crossed on to the wrong side of the road and struck a car coming in the other direction.

A passenger in that vehicle, 72-year-old Mardell Dick, sustained serious injuries and died in hospital 10 days later.

As she was losing consciousness in the car, she said to her husband of 53 years, “Jim, I’m going” and then passed out.

Mrs Dick died in April last year when the Ford Ka she was a passenger in was struck by a Ford Fiesta being driven by Wylie on the A909 Burntisland to Kelty road.

At Dunfermline Sheriff Court yesterday, Wylie, 19, of Valley Gardens, Kirkcaldy, avoided a custodial sentence.

The court heard he had been deeply affected by the tragedy and had not driven since.

He previously admitted that on April 6 last year he caused the death of Mardell Dick, of Barrie Street, Dunfermline, by driving a car without due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for other persons using the road.

He admitted failing to take proper care when negotiating a bend in the road and lost control of the vehicle, causing it to cross into the opposing carriageway and collide with a car being driven by James Dick, causing extensive damage to both vehicles, causing James Dick and a female passenger to be injured and causing serious and fatal injuries to Mardell Dick.

Depute fiscal Azrah Yousaf said the police report did not point to Wylie driving at excessive speed, but put the accident down to his inexperience.

On arriving after the collision, paramedics found Mrs Dick struggling to breathe. She was transported to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, where 10 days later her husband agreed to her life-support machine being turned off.

Defending, Sean Templeton QC said his client was “utterly sorry” for the death of Mrs Dick and her family’s loss.

He added it was “a tragic set of circumstances”, that his client has not driven since the accident and “has no intention to do so”.

He said Wylie had struggled to cope since the accident and had been prescribed anti-depressants.

Mr Templeton said it was accepted that the reason for the accident was his client’s lack of driving experience.

“He accepts his responsibility and culpability,” he said.

However, he also pointed out that the police report suggested deficiencies in the road surface could have contributed to the accident.

In a victim impact statement, Mr Dick said he had “lost his best friend” when he lost his wife of 53 years and was struggling to get by without her, depending on his family for their support.

One of Mrs Dick’s daughters said she had been deeply affected by the “sudden and unexpected loss of her mother”, that she had been in a “trance” since and that her children had lost their grandmother.

Another daughter said it had been “terrible” to see her mother on a life-support machine and for her father to have to agree for it to be switched off.

Sheriff Craig McSherry said to Mrs Dick’s relatives in court: “It’s a tragic accident and I express my extreme sympathy.”

However, he added: “My role is not to act as some avenger.”

He imposed a community payback order on Wylie with 300 hours of unpaid work and disqualified him from driving for 18 months.