Glasgow driver failed to report running over man who later died

A driver who ran over a man in Finnieston who later died from his injuries failed to provide his details to the police.

Robert Campbell, 59, struck Stuart Laurie, 33, on February 5 2022.

Mr Laurie was lying on the road when joiner Campbell drove over his body.

Campbell later claimed that he "did not see" Mr Laurie and believed he had struck a dark log or a branch.

Campbell told police that he didn't call the authorities as he "didn't realise" that it was a body.

He stood trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court charged with causing Mr Laurie's death by carless driving which was found not proven.

However, Campbell pled guilty before trial to a separate charge of being the driver of a car involved in an incident in which he failed to stop and give details to any person who required them.

The court heard that Mr Laurie had been out with friends that night at the SWG3 nightclub.

Friends did not see Mr Laurie after he left them around midnight.

Campbell meantime was driving to pick up his wife and son who were at a party.

A police interview was played to the court in which Campbell stated: "I didn't see him."

Recalling the incident, he said: "I saw something lying on the road which I thought was a log.

"I tried to swerve to get away from it.

"I hit it and I thought I needed to come down and talk to you as I spoke to my wife about it. She said you have nothing to hide.

"If I thought it was a body, I would be the first person to stop."

Campbell stated that he hit a "dark object" and that it came at him "in a flash."

He said: "I thought the left side of my car had hit it, I thought it was the shock absorber. I thought I had hit a branch."

Campbell claimed that he didn't want to push the object out of the way of the road as he was in pyjama bottoms.

A police officer asked Campbell how he felt about the incident.

He replied: "My stomach has been churning thinking about it, I am just shocked that someone had been knocked down.

"If I thought it was a person I would have got out and done the right thing."

Campbell stated that he did not know it was a dead body until the next day.

He added: "I feel sorry for the dead lad."

Campbell claimed that he did not think about calling the authorities at the time of the incident as he "didn't realise" what it was.

Sheriff Paul Reid fined Campbell, of the city's Broomhill, £370 and applied six penalty points on his licence.

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