A pensioner has been cleared of driving carelessly when he struck and killed a pedestrian who was crossing the road in Lochee.
68-year-old William McIntosh was high on a cocktail of drink and drugs and clad in dark clothing when he was struck by Stewart Clark on a rainy winter afternoon in December 2020.
Mr McIntosh died at Ninewells Hospital less than three hours after being struck by the Mazda 6 on December 13.
He sustained multiple injuries after trying to cross Lochee Road near its junction with Cobden Street.
Mr Clark was not the only one who failed to see the pensioner.
His presence was also missed by a taxi driver and his passengers coming in the opposite direction, as well as by dashcam footage from a following vehicle.
Mr Clark was acquitted after he stood trial at Dundee Sheriff Court, having denied he killed Mr McIntosh by driving carelessly.
Trial
Mr Clark, of Tay Street in Newport, stood trial two days before his 75th birthday.
The court heard from 69-year-old taxi driver Peter Cuthill, who was taking couple John and Kimberley McKinnie home from the city centre.
He said: “I was driving the taxi up Lochee Road around about 4.30pm.
“It was very windy and heavy rain. There was a lot of water on the road.
“I was driving around about 25mph. The wipers had to be on.
“When we were driving just pretty close to St Columba’s nursing home there was a car came down.
“I’d said to the passenger – the words that I used were ‘God, he’s licking it’.”
Mr Cuthill said he heard a bang a couple of seconds after the cars passed each other.
He compared the sound to a vehicle striking a metal bin or a parked motorcycle.
The cabbie, who has almost 50 years experience driving fares, said he believed Mr Clark’s blue Mazda 6 was travelling between 38 and 42mph.
His front passenger Mr McKinnie, 54, said it could have been 50mph.
However, it was a matter of agreement that police calculations proved Mr Clark was travelling at 30mph, which was the speed limit.
Nobody in the taxi saw Mr McIntosh.
Witnesses were shown dashcam footage from the vehicle which was following Mr Cuthill’s Audi but Mr McIntosh was not seen in the video.
Police said they analysed CCTV from the nursing home, which was not shown in court.
Collision investigator PC Ian Catterall said Mr McIntosh entered the road 60 metres in front of the Mazda 6 and crossing would have taken him around six seconds.
He said: “Given the circumstances, it was my belief that Mr Clark would have been able to see the deceased as he crossed the road and if he’d reacted quicker, would have been able to stop prior to the collision.”
Further investigation
Blood tests from a post mortem showed traces of alcohol, morphine, methadone, etizolam and pregabalin.
Mr Clark’s car was examined by police at Ninewells Garage two days after the collision and no defects were found.
Seven months after the crash, he was charged with causing death by dangerous driving.
This was reduced to a charge of causing death by careless driving and then to a summary complaint, meaning no jury would be involved in the trial.
Clark, who has no criminal record and no points on his license, chose not to give evidence.
Solicitor advocate Callum Hiller, defending, said there were “a number of factors” that led to Mr McIntosh remaining unseen.
He labelled the collision “a very, very unfortunate accident.”
After a day of evidence, Sheriff Eric Brown found Mr Clark not guilty.
The sheriff said: “There is no dispute that you were driving the vehicle in question.
“There is no dispute that as a result of the collision, the deceased met his death.
“That is not an issue here.
“Nobody saw the pedestrian.
“The bottom line is, there is no witness who saw the deceased.
“In all the circumstances, the Crown in my opinion has failed to establish the case to the required standard.”
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