A viscount’s daughter-in-law was today ordered to carry out unpaid work in the community after causing the death of a pensioner by driving carelessly.
Emily Arbuthnott, 37, knocked down James Lyall while he was walking across the road in front of her car at a zebra crossing leaving him seriously injured.
Mr Lyall was initially treated at the scene before he was rushed to hospital in an ambulance under police escort, but later died.
The mother-of-three was on the school run when the tragedy happened in Inverbervie shortly after 3pm on November 5, 2014.
She did not see the 82-year-old crossing the road because her vision was temporarily blinded by the low level sun.
Arbuthnott, who married Christopher, the son of the 17th Viscount of Arbuthnott in April 2003, admitted causing the pensioner’s death when she appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court last month.
She failed to slow down or stop the Audi, the vehicle she was driving, when the sun reduced her visibility.
Yesterday fiscal depute David Bernard told the court other drivers interviewed following the accident informed investigating officers that the sun had obscured their vision.
He said one of the witnesses saw the car collide with Mr Lyall who was flung on to the bonnet of the car then hit the windscreen.
The court heard Arbuthnott was hysterical when she realised what had happened and kept repeating to other witnesses that she hadn’t seen the pensioner on the road.
Defence lawyer Iain Hingston said his client felt no self-pity and a sense of overwhelming guilt.
He said the freelance journalist had effectively punished herself by withdrawing from the community because she didn’t want to remind anyone that she was responsible for the tragedy.
He said: “She has held a clean driving licence for a number of years and has driven down that some road for a number of years.
“To begin with on that day there was nothing remarkable about the journey. It was the school run, probably completed hundreds of times.”
Mr Hingston said Mr Lyall was in no way to blame for the accident and his client had accepted sole responsibility for his death.
The lawyer described the driving conditions as difficult that day because of the “dazzling” sun.
He said: “None of that, of course, changes the fact that a driver is required by law to drive in accordance with the prevailing conditions.
“She wishes for me to express her profound and indeed sincere apologies to the family and friends of Mr Lyall, to say that if she could do anything to turn back the clock, she would.”
Sheriff Graeme Buchanan said the manner of driving which caused Mr Lyall’s death was not at the highest end of the scale highlighted in sentencing guidelines.
He said: “It is plain that what has happened has had an absolutely devastating effect on the accused and all of that far outweighs any sort of punishment which this court could impose.
“Plainly this is a deeply distressing case for everyone involved and the sentence in the court is of course in no way intended to reflect the value of the deceased’s life.
“I’ve reached the conclusion that a prison sentence would not be appropriate in this case for a variety of reasons, including the fact that the driving conditions on the day were very difficult.”
Sheriff Buchanan ordered Arbuthnott to carry out 210 hours of unpaid work in the community and banned Arbuthnott from the road for 15 months.
The mother stays on nearby Arbuthnott Estate where her husband’s family have lived since Hugh de Swinton was granted the lands of Arbuthnott by King William the Lion in 1188.
His descendant Lord Arbuthnott, the 16th viscount and 33rd laird, died at the age of 87 in 2012.
The formal naval airman was decorated with the Distinguished Silver Cross for his work piloting torpedo bombers in the Pacific until the Japanese surrendered in 1945.
