A pensioner has been convicted of causing a Boxing Day crash which killed a Dundee woman.
Janette Henry, 67, was behind the wheel of her Range Rover when she drove into a family walking to a restaurant in Bearsden, East Dunbartonshire.
Community worker Eleanor Ballantyne, 60, was killed and five relatives hurt on December 26 2019.
Henry told jurors she had no memory of the collision, claiming she had got out of her vehicle to a “scene from hell”.
A trial heard claims she could have suffered a blackout at the wheel similar to the driver in the Glasgow bin lorry tragedy eight years ago.
But Henry was convicted of causing death by careless driving at the High Court in Glasgow.
The mother faces a possible jail-term when she returns to the dock in February next year.
Tributes paid
Eleanor had been employed by Dundee City Council as a community learning and development worker for 25 years, working in community centres across the city.
Friends and colleagues paid tribute to her after her death.
Marie Dailly, Dundee City Council communities service manager said: “Eleanor was a dynamic, enthusiastic and committed member of staff, with a passion for drama and cultural events.
“She was highly thought of by colleagues and members of the community.
“Having taken early retirement, she still maintained a big presence in the city through her voluntary work and she will be sadly missed by all.”
Friends Annette Miller and Avon Bartlett paid tribute to the “unsung hero” who moved to Dundee more than 30 years ago and made the City of Discovery her home.
The Glaswegian went on to play pivotal roles as a community centre manager in a number of council wards, including Menzieshill, Whitfield, Douglas and the Hilltown.
Annette said thousands of people would have “good memories” of Eleanor and the work she had done.
Brother tells of tragedy
Eleanor’s brother Brian Ballantyne, 59, had told the trial how the family had got together for a traditional Boxing Day gathering at his home in Bearsden.
The group were then walking on the pavement to a local restaurant when tragedy struck.
Brian – a company director – recalled seeing a car with “very bright” lights coming towards them and then a “terrible thudding”.
Henry’s 4×4 had mounted the pavement and struck a wall, before hitting the group and then a parked Jaguar car.
After checking on his family, Brian recalled Henry standing on the street.
Asked what she was like, he stated: “I will never forget her demeanour the rest of my life.
“It was almost as if she had parked her car.
“Her behaviour was too normal.”
Second brother’s memories
Eleanor’s other brother Charles Ballantyne, 52, told jurors: “I remember watching the car and trying to process why it was not slowing down.
“I do not know if it was picking up pace but it was not slowing down.
“I swung my wife around.
“The one thing I remember was the car being massive.”
In the aftermath, he spotted his stricken sister among the injured.
Transport manager Charles said: “My wife was hysterical.
“I remember them shouting to get Eleanor, pointing out where she was.
“She was face down in a puddle – half on the pavement and half off.”
Asked about Henry afterwards, he said: “She did not acknowledge us.”
‘Like a scene out of hell’
Eleanor was left so badly hurt, she died in hospital days later.
Prosecutors stated Henry had failed to negotiate a bend and then travelled across the opposite lane.
She was said to have struck the wall and not stopped her vehicle before hitting the family.
Henry – who worked in human resources – told jurors she had been returning to Bearsden from Loch Lomond with relatives when the crash happened.
As she neared home, the pensioner recalled slowing down on a narrow road to pass parked cars and her next memory was airbags deploying in her 4×4.
She said: “I thought we had been hit by an oncoming car.”
I was met with something that was like a scene out of hell.”
— Accused Janette Henry, 67.
She was said to have “screamed” before the collision but the pensioner claimed to have no memory of that.
Her KC Thomas Ross put to her: “Other than a medical emergency, can you think of any other reason why you would plough into a wall and a group of pedestrians?”
Henry replied: “No.”
Prosecutor Adrian Stalker later stated when Henry got out of her vehicle and realised what happened, it must have been “horrifying”.
Henry said: “It does not even come close.
“I was met with something that was like a scene out of hell.”
Mr Stalker put to Henry she “could not accept” what she had done.
She replied: “I do not know what happened.”
Loss of consciousness theory
Medical experts who gave evidence could not rule out Henry suffered a sudden loss of consciousness at the wheel.
In his closing speech, defence advocate Mr Ross argued that being so there was “no culpability or justification for punishment”.
He referred to two other high profile road fatalities, where the drivers also reportedly suffered blackouts and did not appear in the dock.
These were Harry Clarke – who crashed his bin lorry in Glasgow’s George Square killing six people in 2014 – as well as William Payne, who killed two young women in the city centre four years earlier.
Henry had faced an allegation of causing death by dangerous driving before jurors found her guilty of the alternative charge.
She showed no emotion at the verdict.
Lord Stuart deferred sentencing for reports and bailed Henry but banned her from the road meantime.
