An American tourist has denied killing a toddler and his grandparents by driving dangerously on the A9 near Carrbridge.
Paul Gillcrist, of North Carolina, pled not guilty at the High Court in Glasgow today, with a trial date fixed for next January at the High Court in Inverness.
The 68-year-old allegedly took the lives of Inverness couple David McPherson, 58, Elza McPherson, 54, and their two-year-old grandson Harris Cochrane near the Slochd summit on July 5 2022.
Court papers state that the accused was behind the wheel of a Mercedes CLA which, it’s claimed, was driven dangerously on the tragic day in question.
Gillcrist is accused of failing to maintain control of the vehicle by drifting in and out of lanes as well as in the path of oncoming vehicles.
He’s also said to have needed to take evasive action to avoid a collision that resulted in his tyres striking a kerb.
Gillcrist accused of driving into path of couple’s Ford Fiesta
It’s further alleged that Gillcrist didn’t maintain an adequate space for overtaking, which caused a heavy goods vehicle driver to take evasive action to avoid a collision.
Gillcrist is said to have again failed to maintain proper control of the vehicle when he approached the Slochd summit.
It is stated that he drove across the road line, mounted a kerb onto the grass verge and collided with a crash barrier.
The charge goes on to say Gillcrist drove across a lane into the path of a Ford Fiesta driven by Mr McPherson.
Grandad died at the scene, grandmother and grandson died in hospital
Gillcrist is said to have collided with the McPherson’s car and with another vehicle driven by David Clark.
It is claimed that all the vehicles were damaged and Gillcrist’s passenger, Kathy Gillcrist, was injured.
The charge says Mr McPherson was so severely injured that he died at the scene.
Mrs McPherson died at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, while Harris passed away at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness on July 5.
A huge emergency response was launched at about 11.40am – following the horrific crash – with three air ambulances, four fire crews and several police units in attendance.
The road was closed for around nine hours as crash scene investigators worked to piece together what happened.
Pictures on social media showed clouds of thick black smoke in the air in the hours following the collision.
Neighbours and friends of the McPherson couple later paid tribute to the family.
A family friend and neighbour said: “I knew Elza. She adored her grandson.”
Another neighbour described the couple as “lovely people”.
US man also accused of careless driving in Edinburgh
Gillcrist faces a separate charge of careless driving on the same date along various roads in Edinburgh.
He is claimed to have driven over a kerb and caused a lorry to take evasive action to avoid a collision by allegedly doing an unsafe right turn.
Gillcrist is further stated to have failed to maintain control of the vehicle and veered towards a grass verge, nearly striking a wall.
On Thursday, at the High Court in Glasgow, he pled not guilty to the two charges.
Judge Lord Mulholland will hear the case in January next year.
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