Driver goes on trial accused of killing elderly couple in crash

Aberdeen Sheriff Court: Gary McCrohon denies causing death by dangerous driving.© STV

A man has gone on trial accused of causing the deaths of an elderly couple by driving carelessly on a dual carriageway.

Gary McCrohon, 32, is claimed to have been driving a black Nissan Skyline when it struck the central reservation of the A944 road and crossed into the path of an oncoming car.

William Cable, 79, and his wife Elizabeth, 78, were driving along the other side of the road when the accident happened near Westhill on February 18, 2009.

The couple were seriously injured and died at the scene. McCrohon, from Westhill, denies the charge of death by careless driving as he went on trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court on Monday.

Witness Amanda Macklin, 36, told the court that she had been driving behind the black Skyline when the accident happened. Giving evidence, she said there had been light drizzle when she was travelling home to Westhill at about 2.15pm that day.

The accountant said she noticed the black car behind a white van on the outside lane of the dual carriageway.

She told the court: "I was approaching and the Skyline was quite close to the back of the van. Maybe half a car length away. The van stayed where it was then the black Nissan pulled out to the inside lane. It was quite a fast, jerk movement."

Depute fiscal Anne MacDonald asked: "Did you see any reason for it to do that?" She replied: "No."

Asked what happened next, she replied: "The car just seemed to lose control and started to spin in front of me, it did a full 180 degree turn in front of me on the dual carriageway, by which time I was pulling back."

Mrs Macklin estimated that the car was travelling at about 60mph when it moved to the left. She said the car spun round and she could hear a loud revving noise when it went into the central reservation.

The court heard the car came to rest on a pavement on the other side of the road. It collided with the elderly couple's red Vauxhall Corsa which landed upside down behind the car in a field.

Defence lawyer John Keenan asked Mrs Macklin if she was sure of how close the Nissan had been to the van on the road.

He suggested that the driver wouldn't have been able to determine the precise distance between the Nissan and van because she was travelling behind the vehicle. She replied: "Yes."

Mr Keenan asked whether Mrs Macklin spoke to the driver of the Nissan Skyline when she stopped her car. She told the court that another woman had also stopped and asked him to have a seat. Mr Keenan asked: "But he wouldn't sit down?"

She replied: "He wanted to know about the other occupants in the other car."

Another witness, Trudy Simpson, 42, told the court she was travelling behind the elderly couple's Corsa when the accident happened.

She said she had attempted to overtake the couple because they were travelling so slow along the road.

Asked where she was at the time of the collision, she said: "I thought I was in the inside lane. When the black car came across and hit the driver's side, the red car spun and at one point I thought I was looking at the passenger when it would have been the driver.

"I think I closed my eyes at that point and started screaming and tried to find a space to park my car. I was scared, because I actually thought the red car would hit my car."

The jury heard two women had reported seeing a trail of what appeared to have been oil on the same road shortly before the accident.

One driver, Norma Lawson, saw oil marks on the carriageway at about 1:05pm and reported it to the police. Police contacted the roads department and a gritter lorry was sent to the scene.

By the time the gritter arrived the accident had happened. The lorry driver gritted the road but saw no sign of any spillage along the carriageway himself.

The trial continues.

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