phlebotomycourses: Motorist given community sentence for causing death of second cyclist

Tuesday 21 May 2013

Motorist given community sentence for causing death of second cyclist

Gary McCourt, 49, who had previously been jailed over fatal road accident, hit 75-year-old cyclist in Edinburgh

A motorist with a previous conviction for causing the death of a cyclist has been given a community service order after he hit a second cyclist who later died.

Gary McCourt, 49, from Edinburgh, claimed he had a "momentary lapse of concentration", but was ordered to carry out 300 hours of community service and was given a five-year driving ban after he knocked down Audrey Fyfe, 75, a former member of the Cycle Touring Club.

Although no expert witnesses gave evidence during McCourt's trial, Sheriff James Scott said Fyfe's failure to wear a cycling helmet was a factor in her death.

He told Edinburgh sheriff court: "Mrs Fyfe wasn't to blame in any way for the accident. However, she was not wearing a safety helmet and that in my view contributed to her death."

McCourt told police he had "clipped" the rear wheel of Fyfe's bicycle at a junction in August 2011, causing her to "somersault" through the air and land heavily on the road. She died from her injuries two days later.

After sentencing McCourt for causing death by careless driving, Scott said he accepted that McCourt was full of remorse and had repeatedly apologised, blaming the accident on a lapse of concentration. There was no evidence that McCourt was drunk or affected by drugs, he said. "I take into account that the accused has repeatedly expressed genuine remorse for causing the death of Mrs Fyfe.

"I take into account that the accused has been ill and has suffered from depression and that he displays signs of post traumatic stress disorder."

It emerged after the trial that McCourt had been jailed for two years in 1986 for causing death by reckless driving after killing cyclist, George Dalgity, 22, a geography student whom he hit in central Edinburgh.

McCourt's solicitor, Robert Fairbairn, told the sheriff on Friday: "Before this tragic event, Mr McCourt was employed but he is now unemployed and hasn't been able to work since.

"This accident was caused by a momentary lapse of concentration. A tragic consequence of his inattention was that he struck Mrs Fyfe and he expresses genuine remorse for that."

Fyfe's family were too upset to discuss the case. But in an interview with the Edinburgh Evening News last month, Ann Dalgity, the sister of his previous victim, said she believed McCourt should be jailed.

"We don't want to intrude on the grief of the Fyfe family, and we hope they will not be further hurt, but we do believe that he [McCourt] should receive a very stiff sentence this time around," she said.

"That's two people he has killed through careless driving. We don't want there to be a third and it would seem he didn't learn his lesson."

Severin Carrell