A Fife pickup truck driver has been jailed after running over a 10-year-old boy at a Glenrothes industrial estate, breaking his collarbone and rib.
Graeme Bell struck the boy while attempting to straighten his truck near a lock-up at Whitehill Industrial Estate on December 5 2021.
The youngster was “severely” injured when he was caught under the rear axle of Bell’s pickup.
Crack cocaine addict Bell admitted carrying out the manoeuvre in his Ford Ranger truck was culpable and reckless conduct.
The 32-year-old was sentenced to a total of eight months imprisonment after admitting a string of offences, including thefts, assaulting a supermarket employee and breaching bail conditions.
He was also disqualified from driving for a year when he appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court via a video link from HMP Perth.
Parking panic
Fiscal depute Andrew Brown told the court the victim and another child were playing while his father and another man tinkered with a car at the industrial estate.
“At 11.50am, an orange Ford Ranger entered the locus, driven by the accused.
“The accused pulled the car into a lot at the locus.
“He attempted to straighten up his parking, manoeuvring the vehicle forward, and in doing so struck (the child) with the passenger side of the car.
“The force of being struck knocked the child to the floor.
“Once the vehicle had come to a stop, (the child) was underneath the rear axle of the car.”
Mr Brown said, as emergency services were summoned: “The accused immediately exited the vehicle and spoke in a panicked state, shouting ‘this isn’t my fault’ and ‘I never saw him’.”
Bell was urged by his employer to leave the scene and the youngster was taken to Victoria Hospital, where it was confirmed he had sustained a broken collarbone and rib.
Bell admitted he culpably and recklessly manoeuvred his vehicle when unsafe to do so and collided with the boy, leaving him “severely” injured.
Thefts and bail breaches
The prisoner, formerly of Canmore Road in Glenrothes, was also sentenced in connection with a string of other guilty pleas.
At Asda in Glenrothes on August 31 last year and was spotted on CCTV putting a coffee machine into an open rucksack in a trolley.
When a member of staff attempted to get the item back, Bell pushed him on the chest with a flat palm, fracturing a rib.
He admitted twice stealing cleaning products and meat from the Co-op on Woodside Road, Glenrothes on October 15 last year.
On November 28, he stole household items from the town’s Home Bargains store.
He was on bail throughout.
He also admitted breaching a special bail condition on September 24 by being with a woman the court had ordered him to avoid.
Crack addiction help needed
Solicitor David Bell said: “He’s got himself in the grip of a crack cocaine addiction.
“He accepts that he’s not been able to get that under control in the community.
“He’d actually prefer to try to do so in custody.”
He said he believed the case was prosecuted as culpable and reckless conduct rather than careless driving because of time bar issues.
“He has not seen the child,” the solicitor said.
“This is a lapse of concentration that had a significant impact but it wasn’t a significant lapse of concentration – it was a brief one.”
The court heard Bell has a conviction for careless driving dating back to 2018 and was given a year in prison for a nasty domestic assault.
Sheriff’s hopes for accused
Sheriff Elizabeth McFarlane imposed two months in prison for the parking crash and a total of six more months for the other offences, including four for assaulting the Asda worker.
The sheriff said: “I can’t see any other alternative than imposing a custodial sentence – and that’s your request.
“I just hope that you can get the help that you need.”
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