A neighbour of the family of a tragic toddler who died following a road collision has spoken of seeing a speeding car before the horrific fatality.
Lewis Gemine, 16, of Coupar Angus, said his father, Paul, was out walking the family dogs when he witnessed the shocking incident which claimed the life of two-year-old Harlow Edwards and has left her six-year-old brother Leon and 17-year-old sister Dionne in hospital with serious injuries.
Lewis said his father saw a car “speeding towards Forfar” when it clipped a car turning into the junction.
“The driver was on the wrong side of the road to go round it and he lost control,” he said.
“He obviously couldn’t slow down enough because of the speed he was going.
“Dad put his jacket over Leon. It was clear Harlow had passed away.
“He was really shaken by it when he came back.”
Lewis added: “The family are lovely people. You’d see Harlow playing outside, always supervised, and she’d have a big smile on her face – she was always happy.
“Her parents are so nice. I can only imagine what they are going through – it’s heartbreaking.”
Road traffic measures on the Forfar Road have been raised by Coupar Angus and Bendochy Community Council, with the group’s chair, Wendy McCombes, claiming Perth and Kinross Council rejected a move to improve such matters, just days before the horrific accident.
“The town is feeling an acute sense of anger that such an accident could occur within the town boundary and have such devastating consequences,” she said.
Perth and Kinross Council said they could not comment as the accident is under police investigation.
There was a police presence in the area of the incident on Saturday, with a force patrol jeep monitoring traffic on the Forfar Road.
Harlow is understood to be the youngest of five children to her grieving parents, Sara, 36, and father, Steven, 39.
The horrific collision took place at 3.15pm on Thursday on the A94 Forfar Road opposite Larghan Park, Coupar Angus. A black Ford Focus was involved in a collision with a silver Citreon people carrier.
The Ford Focus vehicle is believed to have then careered into a wall and hit the children as they were walking on a pavement on Forfar Road.
Local residents have left floral tributes at the scene of the accident, along with cuddly toys and written messages, one of which states: ‘Sleep tight little one in the arms of your angels. So sad.”
Local resident Jimmy Auld, 66, summed up the feelings of the town.
“Everybody is speaking about this in Coupar Angus – it is truly awful,” he said.
“Cars are driven far too fast on that road – many are too impatient not to wait until the national speed limit begins.”
John Swinney, MSP for Perthshire North, said the tragedy had left him feeling “devastated.”
“This is a terrible event,” he said.
“I hope for peace for all those affected.”
A spokesperson for Police Scotland said Harlow’s brother and sister remain in hospital, where their condition is described as “serious.”
Sergeant Roy Fairbairn, of Police Scotland, said officers are investigating the full set of circumstances of the collision to “see how it came about.”
“I’d appeal for any witness who may have seen a black Ford Focus driving towards Forfar from the Coupar Angus area should contact us on 101.”