Man denies killing 15-year old girl by dangerous driving in East Kilbride

Published 25th Nov 2019

A 20-year old man drove though a red light and knocked down and killed a 15-year-old girl on a crossing, a court was told.

Kieran Kennedy from Chapelton in South Lanarkshire was on the outside lane of the Kingsway, East Kilbride, when he struck the schoolgirl one second after the traffic lights changed from amber to red.

He denies causing death of schoolgirl Megan Scott by dangerous driving on October 18, 2017.

The jury at the High Court in Glasgow was shown video footage of the incident which took place at 5.46pm.

Traffic cop Gavin Malloy told the court he was at the scene within minutes.

He was asked by prosecutor Chris McKenna what condition the Sirocco was in and said: "It was collision damaged. The front light unit was smashed, there was bent on the bonnet and the windscreen was smashed."

Constable Malloy said: "The light was red when he went through the traffic light. A pedestrian comes into view and is struck on the crossing."

He was then asked by Mr McKenna: "Did he brake when the lights were at amber," and the police officer replied: "No."

Defence QC John Scullion asked Constable Malloy if Megan appeared to be holding something to the right hand side of her face and he said: "It appears to be a mobile phone."

Mr Scullion then asked: "The car driven by Kieran Kennedy struck Megan Scott one second after the lights changed from amber to red is that correct," and he said: "Yes."

The QC said: "Megan Scott does not appear to look right or react in any way to cars travelling in lane two," and Constable Malloy said: "No."

Mr Scullion went on: "At the point when she was struck by the car the light for pedestrians was still at red,” and the policeman replied: "Yes."

The defence QC then said: "The light for pedestrians changed to green around five seconds after she entered the roadway and four seconds after she had been hit by the car," and Constable Malloy replied: "Yes."

Mr Scullion added: "The CCTV footage shows that the brake lights on the Volkswagen went on when the lights turned to red and one second later his car collided with Megan Scott causing her death," and the police officer replied: "Yes."

Constable Malloy agreed with the defence QC that because Megan appeared to be on her phone her view of traffic coming from the right might potentially have been blocked.

The trial before Lord Armstrong continues.

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