Drug Driver Jailed For Two Years After Death Of Pensioner
A DRUG driver who mowed down a pensioner after leaving his girlfriend's house during an argument has been jailed for two years.
Ian Short, 47, got in his car after taking a cocktail of drugs and drove off from the property in Bishopbriggs to Kirkintilloch.
At the same time Kenneth Craig, 76, was walking along Hillhead Road in the north of Glasgow.
Short hit the pavement and collided with a metal railing at a pedestrian island and knocked Mr Craig down.
His wife who was only a short distance behind found her husband injured in undergrowth shortly before he was pronounced dead.
Short's phone was found in the footwell of the driver's seat with a number of text messages having been sent a short time before the incident.
At Glasgow Sheriff Court, Short pled guilty to causing the death by careless driving while under the influence of drugs on October 26, 2012.
Sheriff Anthony Deutsch told him: "This is an offence of considerable gravity, you know that.
"You drove while under the influence of drugs that's a major aggravation, there are also other matters that I must take account of.
"The fact you were in a highly emotional state and had not been sleeping, possibly shouldn't have been driving while drugs were within your system or otherwise."
On the morning of the incident Short went to his girlfriend Jennifer Ingram's house in Bishopbriggs.
She saw he looked as though he had not slept and that he was "all over the place".
They argued and she told him to leave before he sat outside in his car and sent her a number of text messages.
Around 11.30am Mr Craig left his house with his wife Joyce although she forgot her scarf and was walking behind her husband.
The court was told: "He walked the short distance from his front door onto Hillhead Road and began to walk on the pavement."
Witnesses Eileen Ritchie and her son Brian were walking from a nearby street.
The court heard: "As they crossed Hillhead Road, they saw the accused's motor vehicle travelling south on Hillhead Road, which then mounted the kerb and collided with the metal railing fencing at the pedestrian crossing island."
The car continued off the road and hit another fence then tipped onto its side before coming to rest among trees.
The witnesses rushed to help Short and did not see Mr Craig lying in the undergrowth.
Mrs Craig arrived at the scene and saw her husband's jacket lying in the undergrowth and saw him being attended to.
The court was told: "She could see his eyes were open but he wasn't responding."
Mr Craig had a weak pulse and CPR was carried out on him at the time.
He was pronounced dead at 11.50am and a post mortem revealed he had severe head, chest and abdominal injuries.
When the fire service arrived Short - who was slipping in and out of consciousness - told them: "I was driving up the road and an old guy stepped into the road. I swerved and missed him, that's why I ended up in here."
However no witness saw anyone stepping on to the road and Mr Craig did not step out.
Short's eyes were glazed and his behaviour was erratic and his speech ranged from slow to excitable.
He told police his phone was ringing "through the hands free" in the car.
A toxicoloy report showed that traces of diazepam, desmethyliazepam, methylone and MDPV were found in his blood.
The report said "The combination of diazepam, methylone and MDPV have the potential to impair driving."
The court heard methylone is a stimulant and resembles MDMA but is a third less potent.
MDPV can cause blurred vision and driving could be "further impaired" by altered perceptions, hallucination, dizziness and difficulty focusing.
Mobile phone records showed a series of text messages sent between Short and Miss Ingram between 10.17am and 11.27am.
The first emergency services call was made at 11.32am and although there is no evidence to show Short was using his phone the messages show that he was in an "upset state" when he left Miss Ingram's home.
Defence lawyer Stephen Bentley said Short is "genuinely remorseful" adding: "He knows that no words I can say on his behalf will ever lessen the impact of the tragic consequences of Mr Craig's death and him being responsible for that.
"He is truly, truly sorry and wanted me to pass that on in open court."