A 21-year-old Moray man has pleaded guilty to causing a head-on crash which left an elderly woman seriously injured.
Nathan Stewart, of Queen Street in Lossiemouth, admitted driving dangerously at excessive speed round bends while both front tyres were devoid of tread, before losing control and colliding with an oncoming car. The collision happened on the B9010 Kellas to Rafford road, near an unclassified road through Miltonduff, on October 11, 2016.
Sheriff Gary Aitken deferred sentence until May 17 for background reports and gave Stewart an interim driving ban.
Procurator fiscal Alex Swain told Elgin Sheriff Court yesterday that Stewart had picked up a young woman, Tabitha Driver, from Elgin to go out for a drive on the afternoon of the collision.
But Miss Swain said that Miss Driver described his driving as “reckless and dangerous” and that, at one point, asked him how he knew there was no oncoming traffic, to which he replied, “It’s just a chance you’ve got to take.”
Miss Swain said that the vehicle collided with a car being driven by Francesca Stuart. Miss Stuart’s 95-year-old grandmother, Joyce Conachar, was a passenger in the vehicle.
The fiscal said that Stewart’s car swerved to the left side of the road when he spotted Miss Stuart’s oncoming car and that he lost control before “colliding head on” with it.
Miss Swain said that, as a result of the collision, Mrs Conachar suffered four broken ribs and minor cuts and bruises and stayed in hospital for four months, adding: “Coupled with her age, Mrs Conachar was not able to fully recover. “When she was released she did require 24 hour care and subsequently passed away on June 12, 2017.”
