Danish driver who caused fatal crash in Argyll spared jail

A Danish man who caused a horrific fatal crash in which a minibus driver was killed and 10 other men who were passengers were injured after driving on the wrong side of the road escaped a jail sentence today.

But a judge warned student Stefan Hansen that if he failed to carry out 300 hours unpaid work with the Red Cross in his homeland the alternative of imprisonment was still open.

Lady Stacey deferred sentence on Hansen (24) for a year to allow him to complete the work requirement which she said must be documented.

She told him: "While this offence is punishable by imprisonment I am not persuaded it is the only suitable disposal in your case."

She said his action had caused "devastation" in a number of people's lives and added: "You will know you did a great deal of harm by your actions carelessness that day."

The judge told him at the High Court in Edinburgh that she hoped her decision would help to remind him to take care every day he was behind the wheel. She also banned him from driving for two years in the UK.

Hansen was on the wrong side of the road on the A83 near the Kennacraig ferry terminal, Tarbert, Argyll, when he collided head-on in a Mitsubishi 4X4 with the vehicle.

The driver of the minibus, Andrew Rennie (62) of Millars Park, Campbeltown, in Argyll, died following the collision on October 17 in 2013. A son of Mr Rennie was among those seriously injured.

Iain Rennie, Charles McCormick, Peter Chute, Steven Coffield, Alan MacMillan, Alister Jarvie, Ryan Sharp, Richard Todd, John Gillies and Gary Anderson were all injured.

Student Hansen (24) who has no previous convictions, had denied a charge of causing his death by dangerous driving by driving his vehicle southbound in the northbound carriageway.

A jury earlier convicted him of the lesser offence causing death by careless driving. The court heard he had previously offered to plead guilty to causing death by careless driving.

The court heard that Hansen had previously been in Scotland in 2011 for work experience in the area taking part in wildlife management and had driven regularly.

He had returned in 2013 with his father and one of his friends and they went hunting. On the morning of the crash he had set off alone with a rifle.

He said he had turned onto the A83 taking the left hand side. He said he had decided to change the channel on the radio and looked down.

"I switched the channel on the radio and the next thing I saw is two headlights coming towards me and there was a collision," he said.

"I just saw these two lights coming towards me and that's it. There is no time at all to react, just maybe hitting the brakes and try to avoid it," he said.

He said he had crossed over onto the wrong side of the road just before the crash.

One of the passengers in the minibus, joiner Charles McCormick, said he had seen headlights coming towards them. He said within seconds there was an impact and the windscreen shattered. "It was just mayhem after that," he added.

One police officer who attended the scene said she had spoken to the Danish driver who told her he had left the premises he had been staying at and "got onto the wrong side of the road".

Another witness who made a call to the emergency services said the driver had said he had forgot what he was doing and drove up the wrong side of the road.

Mr Rennie was trapped in the minibus and collapsed after he was eventually freed. He suffered leg, chest and abdomen injuries in the crash.

Defence counsel Euan Dow said Hansen was of "good character" and had a clean Danish driving licence.

He said: "He continues to feel a deep sense of guilt for the consequences of his actions and the impact his actions have obviously had on the deceased's family and those closest to him."

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