A van driver accused of dozing off at the wheel before mowing down two teenagers told police “I think I was overcome with the heat and maybe fell asleep,” a trial has heard.
Ronald Craik, 73, told jurors how he “came to” after hearing a thud as he drove along a rural Perthshire road on one of the hottest days of 2019.
The semi-retired marine engineer said he somehow blacked out briefly and returned to consciousness as his Citreon Berlingo works van was travelling along the grass verge of the Inchmichael to Balbeggie road.
He said he couldn’t see anything on the road when he checked his mirrors, and drove off when “fight or flight took over.”
‘Blunt force trauma’ injuries
Craik, of Mansfield Road, Scone, is on trial at Perth Sheriff Court accused of two counts of dangerous driving.
It is alleged he fell asleep while driving along the unclassified C402 road, near Rait, on June 23 2019 and collided with schoolgirls aged 15 and 14.
He denies all charges. Lawyers claim he suffered an episode of vasovagal syncope – a medical phenomenon that can cause fainting – and was unable to control his vehicle and avoid a collision.
On day two of his trial, the court heard how the oldest child Ellie Sinclair suffered multiple injuries consistent with a “major blunt force trauma”.
She spent 36 hours on a ventilator in intensive care, before being transferred to a paediatric high dependency unit for five days.
The girl suffered fractures to her face, skull and spine, as well as bruising to her lungs.
Her friend Sarah Thomas suffered “significant” road rash, skin loss and bruising.
‘Windscreen came in’
Grandfather-of-four Craik, who works for a shipping firm, told his trial he drove to Aberdeen harbour the morning of the crash.
He went to his office at Montrose, before stopping off at Arbroath to get water and an ice lolly.
As he drove towards home along the A90 Dundee to Perth road, he began feeling “irritated and uncomfortable,” he said.
“I was going to stop off at The Horn, but it was very busy. I knew another place, a farm track, where I could stop.”
Craik turned onto the Balbeggie road.
He said he didn’t see the two girls and couldn’t explain why his van ended up on the grass verge.
“I just remember a thud and the windscreen came in,” he said. “I was coming to at the time.”
He said: “I knew I’d hit something but I wasn’t sure what. Initially I thought it was a deer.
“I was in a bit of a shock. I look in the rear mirrors, but I saw nothing.
“A bit of fight or flight took over.”
He added: “If I had seen something, I would have stopped.”
Blue flashing lights at the scene
Craik returned home to his wife Elizabeth. “She calmed me down a bit,” he said.
“I said I need to go back to make sure to myself what had happened.”
When he drove back towards Rait, he saw flashing blue lights in the distance.
“I thought something serious must have happened,” he said. “So I went straight to the police station.”
‘Overcome’ by the heat
PC Ryan Walker, 35, said he spoke to Craik at Perth police station at about 4pm.
“He was very shaken up,” the officer told the trial.
“I can’t remember his exact words, but he said he was in an accident.”
Quoting from his notebook, PC Walker said Craik told him: “I hit something. I think I was overcome with heat and maybe fell asleep.
“I thought I hit a deer but I didn’t check and drove home.”
Falling asleep was ‘unlikely’
The court heard from Dr Robin Smith, consultant in respiratory medicine at Ninewells, who examined Craik after the crash.
He said that it was likely the pensioner suffered a syncope episode, partly caused by medication he was on following a heart attack several years earlier.
Dr Smith said that Craik had been yawning before the accident, but said it was “highly unlikely” he had fallen asleep, given the number of manoeuvres he would have had to make while negotiating onto the C-road.
At the close of the crown case, prosecutor Lora Apostolova withdrew part of an allegation that Craik had caused another driver to take evasive action to avoid a collision.
Craik was found not guilty of failing to stop and give his details following a crash.
The trial before Sheriff David Hall continues.
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