A north-east aristocrat has been banned from the road after seriously injuring a nurse and her biker husband in a horror crash involving his Porsche.
Granville Gordon, the 13th Marquess of Huntly, claimed he “didn’t see” James and Mhairi Cameron’s motorbike on the A957 when he pulled out of a junction.
James and Mhairi, a passenger on the back, were sent flying and needed surgery for a catalogue of broken bones following the incident on September 27 2020.
Their injuries caused Mrs Cameron, a nurse, to miss work for five months while her husband was unable to return to his job as a traffic technician at Angus Council for three months.
The 78-year-old, who appeared on court papers as Granville Huntly and lives on the Aboyne Castle Estate, pled not guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving but was convicted following a trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
Giving evidence during the trial, Mr Cameron, 61, a traffic technician with Angus Council, said he’d been riding motorbikes since he was 15.
Evidence given
He told fiscal depute Sean Ambrose how he and his wife had been driving towards Crathes on the A957 when Gordon pulled out in front of them at the staggered junction between the B9077 and the unclassified road from Falls of Feugh.
Mr Cameron said he spotted Gordon’s blue Porsche SUV approaching from the left towards a give-way junction and was concerned it might “overshoot” the junction because of its speed.
In response, he eased off the throttle on his Triumph Sprint motorbike and moved closer to the centre of the road to make sure Gordon could see him.
The Porsche did stop at the junction, however before Mr Cameron had the chance to pass it Gordon started to pull out.
Mr Cameron braked as hard as he could and tried to take evasive action by steering to his left in the hope of passing behind the car but it was too late and his bike ploughed into the rear of the Porsche.
He estimated he’d been able to slow to a speed of 25-30mph by the point of collision.
Mr Cameron said his bike was written off following the crash, adding: “I was knocked unconscious at the point of impact so I’m not entirely sure how I got to where I got, but I’ve got to assume I was thrown from the bike and ended up on the carriageway.
“I became conscious lying on my back on the ground. I don’t know how much time had passed.”
Mr Cameron suffered an open ankle fracture, broken collarbone, collapsed lung, fractured ribs, and nerve damage to his right thigh.
‘I looked round and he was right there on me’
He was off work for three months and did not ride a motorbike again until February 2021.
Asked for his opinion of Gordon’s driving, the council worker said: “It wasn’t the best.”
Cross-examining the witness, defence agent David Storrie asked if he’d driven on that road since the crash.
He replied: “No, we avoided it for a long time because of the memories.”
Mrs Cameron suffered a displaced pelvic fracture, a broken collarbone for which she needed surgery, a broken thumb, a knee injury involving a ruptured ligament and bone bruising and an elbow injury that required a skin graft.
She was off work as a mental health nurse for five months.
Gordon accepted he was at fault for the accident and had offered to plead guilty to the lesser charge of careless driving.
Taking to the witness stand to describe the incident, the Gordonstoun-educated marquess said: “I approached the junction and looked to my left and right and thought that the road was clear.
“I did not see the oncoming motorbicyclist. It’s entirely my fault.
“I should have done, but I didn’t see him.
“Having committed myself to the manoeuvre across the road, my wife, Catheryn, said ‘bike!’ to me and I looked round and he was right there on me.
“There is no criticism in my mind or in hers, in any way, of the bicyclist himself.
“I think he did an excellent job of avoiding a potentially far more disastrous situation.”
Mr Ambrose asked the peer – who is also chief of the clan Gordon – if he accepted he should have stayed at the junction and not pulled out.
He replied: “I certainly do accept I shouldn’t have moved out. I didn’t see the motorbicyclist.”
In their closing speeches to Sheriff Eric Brown, Mr Ambrose invited him to convict Gordon of the charge as libelled, while Mr Storrie argued it had been a “momentary lapse of attention” and should be classed as careless driving.
Sheriff Eric Brown found the Marquess of Huntly guilty of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
He deferred sentence for reports but banned Gordon from driving in the interim period.
Asked by The Press and Journal outside court if he wished to apologise to the Camerons, Gordon remained silent and walked away.
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