Peebles forestry worker jailed after killing girlfriend in 100mph crash
Last updated 2nd Oct 2024
A 28-year-old man from Peebles who caused the death of his girlfriend by dangerous driving - just days before her 21st birthday - has today (Wednesday) been jailed for five years.
Sam Barber was estimated to be travelling at more than 103 miles per hour in a 60mph limit on the A72 near Biggar when he lost control of his BMW in March 2022.
His passenger Beth Damer (pictured top), an NHS clinical support worker, died from her injuries.
Passing sentence this morning, Lord Arthurson said the impact of the 20-year-old's death on her family was "quite simply immeasurable".
The High Court in Glasgow previously heard how Ms Damer had gone with her partner of one year to collect his new car the evening before the crash.
On the afternoon of the incident, on March 12th, 2022, the couple were in the BMW when witnesses described it as "shooting past".
It crossed onto the opposing carriageway, clipped a grass verge; and ended up flying through the air after colliding with a fence, eventually landing upside down in a field.
Barber, a forestry worker, already has previous convictions for careless driving and speeding.
In addition to the jail term, he has also been disqualified from driving for 12 years and 6 months.
Ms Damer, from Crawford, Lanarkshire, was described in court as "a much-loved daughter and sister", who was highly respected and valued by her colleagues in the NHS.
A gifted musician, she also played the cornet with Coalburn Brass Band.
Lord Arthurson said: "She filled her family home with joy and music. The eloquent family impact statements which I have read make it plain just how much she will be missed by those who loved her, in particular her parents and two brothers.
"Ms Damer will forever be in their memories a young woman with her whole life ahead of her, a life of potential, promise, fulfilment and achievement.
"In the words so powerfully expressed in one of the impact statements, Beth Damer’s was a beautiful life, cut short."
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The judge commended members of the public who came to the couple's aid following the crash.
The emergency response included a doctor, who arrived by helicopter.
But the court heard resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful, and the cause of Ms Damer's death was recorded as pelvic injuries due to the crash.
Addressing Barber directly in court, Lord Arthurson said: "You will one doubtless day leave prison and rejoin your family and the community. Your victim Ms Damer will never, due to your criminal behaviour, be able to do any of that.
"I have sought today, as I require to do, to apply the applicable sentencing guidelines for cases of this nature.
"That said, I fully understand that this sentence may nevertheless seem wholly inadequate to observing bereaved family members and friends, but of course nothing that this court can do can undo the crime that you and you alone are responsible for and in so doing turn back the clock.
"The sentence imposed today should not in any sense whatsoever be regarded as measurement of the impact of the loss of Ms Damer to her grieving family. That impact is quite simply immeasurable."
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