A motorist’s horror at being involved in a crash that paralysed a teenager was laid bare in a series of emotional texts sent in the aftermath of the head-on crash.
Brendan Gall, 34, is on trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court accused of causing serious injury by dangerous driving over the devastating collision on the B994 Kintore to Kemnay road.
He sent messages to the friend after the crash, on October 20 2018, and spoke of his fears that the victim, 19-year-old scooter rider Oskar Sumera, would die.
Mr Sumera was on a life support machine and required stomach surgery to stop internal bleeding and is now completely paralysed from the chest down.
Gall denies seriously injuring the teenager by driving at excessive speeds for the conditions and road layout. He also denies a charge of driving without insurance.
On the second day of the trial, which got under way on Tuesday, witness Pc Andrew Cruickshank took to the witness stand.
Gall, of Victoria Street, Dyce, said: “I think we killed someone.
“I crashed my car tonight. Head on into a boy on his scooter.
“The boy’s in a bad way.”
Gall went on to describe how scared he was, adding: “Honestly the most horrible thing I’ve seen.
“The boy was in the road helpless and I couldn’t do **** all.
“I came round a corner and lost control of my car.
“The guy’s in hospital. I’m waiting to hear.
“A paramedic lived in the house beside the crash and kept the boy alive. If she wasn’t there he’d dead.
“I wasn’t speeding or drunk.
“A copper crashed on the same corner a week ago.”
Gall’s friend tried to reassure him he would not be in trouble or go to prison, but he replied: “All I’m worried about is this boy.
“I mean he was lying there in the road, his leg was all twisted up behind his back and I couldn’t do **** all.
“The way I saw the guy, I’m waiting on a call to say he’s passed. I’m feeling sick.”
Road covered with ‘dewy kind of sheen’
Pc Cruickshank also noted a statement from Gall at the scene of the crash.
Reading the statement, the witness said: “We came up to these bends and the car lost control on these corners.
“I tried to correct it pulling left and right and we hit the guy.
“The road was dry and all of a sudden it got damp, I don’t know if that’s why it’s done what it’s done.”
Cross-examining the witness, defence agent John McLeod asked him about the road surface.
The officer described a “dewy kind of sheen” on the road.
Evidence was also given by Pc Calum Jamieson, who had carried out a crash investigation.
Under questioning from Ms Begg, Pc Jamieson took the jury through the complex and detailed processes undertaken in making calculations and conclusions about collisions.
Pc Jamieson’s report stated Gall’s black SEAT Leon had mounted a grass verge and then come off it in a curve towards the wrong side of the road, with the back end of the vehicle “stepping out”.
Scooter rider ended up 24 metres from point of crash
He said the distance from the point where the car left the grass verge to the point of impact was 41.5 metres, with the brakes being applied to the maximum level throughout.
Looking at the debris and final positions of the vehicles, Pc Jamieson deduced the scooter was “projected back in the direction it had come for 45.9m” at a speed of 47mph.
He told the court Mr Sumera ended up 24.3m from the point of impact.
The witness added: “The scooter was either travelling very slowly at the time of impact, or it was indeed stationary.”
Pc Jamieson added Gall’s car had been travelling at 53mph at the point it struck the scooter.
He went on: “We were able to calculate a speed of 79mph for the SEAT Leon as it came off the grass verge.”
The officer said further tests had led him to conclude the maximum speed at which the corner could have been safely negotiated in the conditions was 69mph.
Ms Begg showed the witness another report into the collision prepared by a defence expert, which looked at the possibility of a “micro-climate” having been created by overhanging trees which could have affected the road surface.
She asked he thought a micro-climate could be a possible explanation for the crash, he replied: “Not in this incident, no.”
The trial, before Sheriff Philip Mann, continues.