A Dundee driver has been cleared of causing his brother’s death in a crash at Glenshee.
Charges against Lee Tucker, 34, were deemed not proven by a jury after three days of deliberation at the High Court in Stirling.
However, co-accused Joseph Donachie, who pled guilty to dangerous driving in the lead-up to the crash, has been warned his conduct could merit imprisonment.
The garage owner from Dundee was said to have driven “at crazy speeds” behind Mr Tucker, who went on to be involved the high speed crash in which his brother Reece was killed and two young children were seriously injured.
The 29-year-old, driving a white BMW, overtook up to seven cars at a time before the crash in which scaffolder Mr Tucker’s black BMW went out of control on a blind summit on the A93 south of Glenshee, the court was told.
It crossed the carriageway, hit a wall and ended up on its roof.
Front seat passenger Reece, 23, of Kirkton, Dundee, died at the scene from blunt force head injuries.
The children aged five and nine – who cannot be named – were airlifted to the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow and both were placed in induced comas.
The elder suffered a blood clot on his brain and had “adversely affected” mobility and speech.
Mr Tucker, 34 denied he caused the death of his brother by driving dangerously, at excessive speed for the road layout and overtook while not safe to do so and overtook more than one vehicle at a time, before losing control of his vehicle.
Donachie and Mr Tucker had always insisted they were not racing and this element of the charge was struck from the allegations during the trial.
The evidence ended after three days and the jury returned its not proven verdict on Wednesday afternoon, on its third day of deliberations.
Crash scene
Mr Tucker told the trial he had been returning to Dundee after a day at Glenshee sledging with his brother and the two young children, who he had picked up at their mother’s request earlier in the day.
Reece was in the front passenger seat and the boys were in the back. He said they were all using seatbelts.
He described how in the accident’s aftermath, he freed himself and ran to the back of the car to help the children.
“The back window was smashed, so I reached in and unclipped (the oldest boy) and pulled him out and put him to the side of the road.”
He did the same with other child and then sent to his brother’s aid.
“I tried to shake him and he wouldn’t move.
“I unclipped him and he fell onto the ceiling.
“I grabbed him and tried to pull him.”
He could do nothing to save him.
Dangerous driving
Donachie, who knew his co-accused but not well, had been driving home from Glenshee with his girlfriend.
He told the trial it was a “mystery” how Mr Tucker’s BMW crashed and said it was not going excessively fast.
Narrating the case against him on Wednesday, Mr Macintosh said: “During the course of the journey south from Glenshee witnesses in other vehicles speak about being overtaken by both a black BMW, driven by Mr Tucker, and a white BMW driven by Mr Donachie.
“Whilst Mr Donachie’s vehicle was never seen to be in front of Mr Tucker’s, it is described as being the faster of the two.
“At one stage on a straighter stretch Mr Donachie is described as overtaking a line of up to seven cars in a single manoeuvre.
“One witness describes being frightened by the noise from Mr Donachie’s exhaust and her car ‘shaking’ as Mr Donachie passed.
“Mr Donachie’s driving is described variously as ‘foolish’, ‘stupid’, and ‘reckless’ and his speed as ‘excessive’, ‘crazy’, ‘totally inappropriate’, ‘way past dangerous’ and well in excess of the speed limit.
“Mr Donachie stopped his BMW safely just short of the site of the site where Mr Tucker’s black BMW ended up on its roof.”
Mr Macintosh stressed: “It is accepted by the Crown that although Mr Donachie’s driving was dangerous and proximate in time and place to Mr Tucker’s collision, it was not causally connected with it.”
Solicitor-advocate Richard Freeman, for Donachie, said his client was not a public risk, and had committed no other offences since the incident.
Judge Lord Young said Donachie’s driving had been “pretty serious”.
He deferred sentence for reports until May 8 at the High Court in Livingston, and disqualified Donachie from driving with immediate effect.
He warned: “This comes potentially close to custody level.”
Crash factors
The trial heard from Police Scotland collision investigator, who examined the crash site and said Mr Tucker’s BMW was going at “significant” speed, hitting the wall at around 45mph, after decelerating.
He recorded the cause of the crash was “excessive speed, incorrect steering, braking or a combination of all three.”
To the trial, the officer said “road layout” and “distractions” were other possible contributory factors.
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