Driver banned from the road for causing cyclist's death in Fife

A motorist who killed an innocent cyclist after driving carelessly in Fife has been spared a jail sentence.

David Gordon crossed onto the other side of the road to overtake when it was unsafe to do so and collided with Gary Christie's mountain bike.

£8-year-old father-of-two Mr Christie was seriously injured in the incident on November 1 2016 and died in hospital two weeks later.

A judge told Gordon at the High Court in Edinburgh that he had given serious consideration to imprisoning him but reached the view it was neither necessary nor appropriate.

Lord Menzies ordered that the 56-year-old carry out the maximum amount of 300 hours unpaid work under a community payback order and banned him from driving for 10 years.

The judge also ruled that he must sit an extended driving test before applying for a licence again.

Lord Menzies said: "It must not be forgotten throughout all of this that Mr Christie was an innocent man who was just going about his daily routine of cycling to work and who was killed in the prime of his life."

The judge said he had read a victim impact statement from a son of the deceased and added: "I can only begin to understand the loss and suffering which the death of Mr Christie has caused to his family and friends."

Lord Menzies said a background report prepared on Gordon showed that he took full responsibility for causing the death by careless or inconsiderate driving.

Gordon told the author of the report that he should have waited until he was over the brow of a hill at Carberry Road, Kirkcaldy, before overtaking a cyclist travelling in the same direction.

A jury at the High Court in Edinburgh earlier acquitted him of dangerous driving and convicted him of the lesser charge which carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment.

Lord Menzies told Gordon: "If you had been convicted of causing death by dangerous driving it would, I think, have been almost inevitable that I would have imposed a sentence of imprisonment on you."

He said that in Gordon's case there were no drugs, drink, speeding or other aggravating features involved.

He said: "You have accepted full responsibility for this accident and you have displayed remorse. Many people convicted of crimes claim to be remorseful."

Lord Menzies added that like the writer of the background report he was inclined to believe that the remorse shown by Gordon was genuine.