Man found guilty of causing crash that killed mother of two

Guilty: John Cameron was found guilty by a majority verdict.STV

A man has been found guilty of causing the death of a woman by careless driving.

Jennifer Chalmers, 53, died after her scooter was involved in a collision with a Land Rover Freelander on January 25, 2011, in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire.

A jury at Stonehaven Sheriff Court heard that the driver, 52-year-old John Cameron, was not paying "proper attention" as he pulled out of a junction and as a result failed to see Ms Chalmers.

Cameron, 52, had denied driving without due care and attention and exiting the junction "without paying proper attention" and at Stonehaven Sheriff Court.

The accident happened on Stonehaven’s Arduthie Road at its junction with Westfield Road. Ms Chalmers, a mother-of-two, was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary but died from her injuries.

After an eight-day trial at Stonehaven Sheriff Court before Sheriff David Hall, a jury of eight women and seven men found Cameron, of Lubbock Park, Brechin, guilty by a majority verdict on Friday.

He will now be sentenced next month.

Speaking after the trial Ms Chalmers' partner Allan Annat, 63, said: “We’re satisfied with the verdict and it has been a long drawn out trial and we’re pleased to see the end of it and we now all intend to move on with our lives.

“A lot of people are enquiring after Jennifer all the time, she was such a nice person and obviously we grieve deeply the loss of Jennifer.”

In his closing speech to the jury, procurator fiscal Alan Townsend said: “The crown would argue that Mr Cameron’s driving was careless on the night in question.

“What I’m suggesting to you is that probably the most significant evidence is that Mr Cameron was exiting [the junction] and should have exited with care. There was 38m from the zone of invisibility.

“[For] 38m clearly [he could] see her with her lights on and did not and he should have and as a result of that events have unfolded as we have heard in court.

“He should have taken more care and he should have seen her.”

Mr Townsend referred to earlier evidence when the court heard that Cameron thought he had struck a traffic island, he said this showed the accused was not paying attention at the time of the accident.

The defence had argued throughout the case that Cameron had missed the scooter as it had already fallen to the ground with Ms Chalmers aboard before he turned the corner.

Sheriff Hall deferred sentencing Cameron ordering that background reports are prepared. He did however ban Cameron from the roads and told him he would learn his fate next month.

Cameron declined to comment as he left court.

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