Couple were heading to Eilean Donan Castle when split-second careless driving moment ended in tragedy
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AN epileptic who failed to surrender his driving licence and then killed the mother of an alleged murder victim escaped a jail sentence for causing the 73-year-old's death by careless driving.
Valerie MacKinnon was three weeks in hospital in Glasgow before she passed away after the August 22, 2021 collision between the Skoda Rapid being driven by her teenage grandson, Rodachan, now aged 19, and a Honda Jazz.
Behind the wheel was 60-year-old self-employed clock repairer Colin Grant from Norwich, who was on holiday in the Highlands with his wife, Jane.
They had flown to Aberdeen and picked up a hired car with the intention of driving to the Isle of Skye, Mrs MacKinnon's home island.
The Grants were heading for Eilean Donan Castle when the tragedy happened.
Inverness Sheriff Court was told that after being overtaken by four motor cycles on the A87, two miles east of Kyle of Lochalsh, Grant drifted on to the other carriageway into the path of Mrs MacKinnon's Skoda and hit it head-on.
But fiscal depute Niall Macdonald told Sheriff Sara Matheson that Grant should not even have been on the road as he had failed to notify the DVLA of two recorded epileptic seizures in November, 2020 and March, 2021.
The court was told that Grant had had previous seizures in 2017 and 2019 following a brain abscess and he voluntarily had his licence revoked before it was returned prior to Mrs MacKinnon's death.
It was accepted by Mr Macdonald that Grant did not have a seizure at the time of the collision, the prelude and aftermath of which was captured on dashcam footage.
Grant admitted failing to notify the DVLA of a medical condition; driving after failing to submit the notification and causing death by driving carelessly.
As an alternative to a jail sentence, Sheriff Matheson ordered Grant, who was also badly injured suffering several fractures, to 200 hours of unpaid work. He was also banned from driving for two years, although his defence counsel, Mark Moir KC said his client did not intend to drive again.
Sheriff Matheson read what she described as "heartbreaking victim impact statements" from the family who said Mrs MacKinnon was "the heart and anchor of the family".
Nine family members were in court to hear Sheriff Matheson's sentence and although they declined to speak afterwards, shook their heads as the community payback order was imposed.
She told first offender Grant she recognised his "genuine remorse" but that "the risks of travelling on the opposite carriageway were high", adding: "I consider your level of carelessness at between A and B ( the lowest being C). I also consider the failures to be a substantial aggravation. But for those failures, you may not have been driving on that day and as such Mrs MacKinnon's life would not have been so tragically lost."
"No part of the accident was due to her grandson who was driving. He did as much as he could to avoid the collision," the sheriff went on.
At the time, Mrs MacKinnon was survived by her two daughters Ann and Christine and 47-year-old John MacKinnon. He died after a shotgun attack at his home in the Sleat area of Skye almost exactly a year after his mother's death.
He spent three weeks at his mum Valerie’s bedside.
Finlay MacDonald (39) is due to stand trial at the High Court in Glasgow in May, charged with murdering John and attempting to murder his own wife Rowena (32) and another couple.
Mr Moir criticised the motor cyclists who he said "contributed to the accident although no criminal proceedings were taken against them".
The KC said that his client had probably been concentrating on what they were doing as the fourth drew level with the Honda.
"It was all happening in fractions of seconds. He fully accepts his concentration was not on oncoming traffic in that 1.5 seconds and it was his failure which led to the accident."
However Sheriff Matheson commented: "Logically you would move into the near side if there is a motor cycle, not onto the other side of the road."
