A teenage learner driver who killed a Dundee postal worker after hitting him with a car borrowed from a professional racing driver has been jailed.
Kyle McLachlan struck father-of-two Scott Millar as he walked across a road in Dundee after enjoying a music and dance festival in the city.
Mr Millar, 33, died after sustaining serious head injuries but McLachlan failed to stop after the collision.
At a sentencing hearing in Edinburgh on Thursday, McLachlan offered an apology to his victim’s family.
At the time of the offence he was at the wheel of a BMW M4 car owned by Finlay Hutchison, who is is currently a GT3 endurance racer in the GT World Challenge Europe Series.
Hutchison admitted allowing his friend to drive the car when he was not qualified to do so.
McLachlan was jailed for 20 months and banned from driving for five years.
Hutchison was fined £2000 and disqualified for 18 months. He must also carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.
The High Court in Edinburgh had previously heard how a witness to the collision followed McLachlan from the scene, flashing his lights and sounding the horn, until McLachlan pulled up near Dundee’s Police Scotland headquarters.
At the time of the collision McLachlan, then aged 17, only held a provisional driving licence, which was already endorsed with six penalty points.
He had convictions for taking a car without consent, driving without insurance and without a licence.
Addressing the court, McLachlan’s solicitor Iain Paterson said: “Mr McLachlan has asked me to apologise to all the family and friends of Mr Millar.
“He deeply regrets what he did. He accepts that he must be punished and accepts it will be a custodial sentence.
“There was a failure by Mr McLachlan to maintain observation for what was a short time – of course it had absolutely dreadful consequences.”
Mark Stewart QC, acting for Hutchison, said: “He was reckless and his statement to police was to try and escape the consequences of lending his car to someone who was not insured and not licenced.
“That was the mistake he made.”
He said Hutchison had employment, a career path and “has success in sport”.
In relation to a separate charge of driving without due care an attention in a BMW M4 on the A923 between Piperdam and Muirhead on September 2 2019, which Hutchison also previously admitted.
The charges
McLachlan, now 20, of Blacklaw Drive, Birkhill, near Dundee, admitted causing Mr Millar’s death by driving dangerously.
He also admitted failing to stop after the crash, driving while not accompanied by a qualified driver and without insurance.
Hutchison, 21, of Osprey Road, Dundee, admitted permitting McLachlan to drive the BMW and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
He told a police constable he did not give the BMW car keys or permission to drive it to anyone when in fact, he had given the keys to McLachlan and allowed him to drive.
Hutchison further admitted an offence of careless driving, at excessive speed and on the wrong side of the road approaching a bend, on September 2 2019 on the A923 between Piperdam and Muirhead.
