An 80 year-old truck driver has been found guilty of causing the death of a cyclist by dangerous driving in Fife.
Adam Fernie had offered to plead guilty to causing the death of 66-year-old Iain Anderson by careless driving but a jury returned a majority verdict convicting him of the more serious charge.
Mr Anderson’s wife Lilian, who was present throughout the trial, wept as the jury’s verdict was read out and was comforted by family members.
Fernie’s Nissan Cabstar truck struck Mr Anderson’s electric bike from the rear on the B937 country road near Ladybank in what a witness described as an “explosion” of debris and dust.
Mr Anderson, a father and grandfather, suffered multiple injuries in the crash on August 25, 2019 and was pronounced dead at the scene.
A jury at the High Court at Livingston heard his head shattered the windscreen of the Nissan Cabstar before he and his bike were propelled more than 30 metres down the road.
An off-duty policeman and a GP administered first aid and performed CPR for around 30 minutes but they, paramedics and a Heli-Med doctor were unable to save him.
Sentence deferred to March
Fernie was convicted following a trial lasting more than a week.
Judge Lord Weir told him: “Standing the jury’s verdict and your lack of any relevant record of previous offending, I’ll require to instruct a background report into your circumstances before determining the appropriate disposal in this case.”
He deferred sentence until March 31 at the High Court in Glasgow and allowed Fernie to remain at liberty on bail until then.
The family of Iain Anderson released a statement at the time of the accident saying: “Our family are devastated to have lost a loving husband and father of five children as well as an amazing grandad to five grandchildren.
“He will be sorely missed.”
Trial evidence
During the trial, Thomas Davies, 35, a self-employed fencing contractor from Cupar, gave evidence that he saw Fernie’s Nissan following the cyclist north along the B937 Edenbridge to Lindores road moments before the crash.
He said: “I kept on watching because (the truck) wasn’t slowing down – it was just staying at the same speed – and I started thinking: ‘Something’s going to happen here. He’s going to hit him’.
“I saw the man hit and he was just flying in the air.”
Charles Robb, 74, from Freuchie, who was driving his van southwards at the same time, said he saw the cyclist approaching from the opposite direction.
He said: “After about 10 to 12 seconds I just saw like an explosion going off and there was dust and debris all over the place.
“It was all over the road.
“I could see the cyclist lying at the side of the road.
“Once it cleared I saw the truck still going towards me. I said to myself: ‘He’s not going to stop’.”
He stopped Fernie and told him what he had just done.
Desperate bid to save cyclist
Bus driver Andrew Harris, 56, reversed his bus into a layby and ran to help Mr Anderson.
Dramatic footage of his Good Samaritan response was captured on his vehicle’s dashcam and shown to the jury.
Several witnesses testified they heard the accused claiming he did not see Mr Anderson because of something to do with the sun either blinding him, being in his eyes or coming through the trees.
Summing up, the advocate depute suggested Fernie had not seen Mr Anderson at all and was closer to the verge than the cyclist.
He reminded jurors there were no skid marks on the road to suggest Fernie had braked and the sun was behind him as he drove north.
