Court / Woman given community sentence after ‘tragic’ accident on Walls Pier
A WOMAN has been given a community payback order and a disqualification for causing the death of another woman by careless driving in an accident which took place in Shetland’s Westside last year.
Lerwick Sheriff Court heard on Thursday that the “tragic error of judgment” had greatly affected both families involved.
Sheriff Ian Cruickshank said there was a hope that the sentencing could provide a “degree of closure”.
Justyna Holbourn, whose address was given as Ingaville Road, Scalloway, previously admitted failing to make effective use of her car’s mirrors and keeping a proper lookout prior to reversing on the Walls pier on 17 March last year.
The 46-year-old’s Berlingo subsequently collided with a stationary Suzuki Swift car which shunted backwards and collided with Kathleen McLachlan, who was standing at the rear boot of the Suzuki. The 72-year-old was knocked over but subsequently died in hospital.
Sentence had previously been deferred for reports.
The case called again at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Thursday morning, where procurator fiscal Niall Macdonald gave a full narration of the events.
He told court that McLachlan and a daughter had driven to the Walls pier to deliver kittens to the Foula ferry, which docks there, at around 12.30pm.
Holbourn had also driven to the pier with items for the ferry, on what happened to be her birthday, and was advised by her husband – a passenger in her drive – to drive closer to the ferry.
She undertook a reverse manoeuvre but accidentally bumped into the Suzuki, the court heard, while McLachlan was standing at its boot.
The court heard that McLachlan was then knocked over by her car “jolting”, with her head hitting the ground.
Both McLachlan’s daughter and Holbourn immediately went to her aid.
She was initially taken to the Gilbert Bain Hospital in Lerwick but was taken south following a CT scan. The court heard that she unfortunately passed away a few days later as a result of the head injury.
Macdonald said when police had arrived on scene Holbourn was “visibly upset, remorseful and showed great concern”.
Police later undertook a reconstruction of the incident which stated that the Suzuki would not have been visible in the driver and rear mirror of Holbourn’s car, and partially visible in the passenger mirror.
At the court hearing defence agent Christopher Kane passed on his condolences to McLachlan’s family.
He said Holbourn – who had driven to the pier to drop off tree saplings for the island – was an “extremely cautious driver” and at the time of the incident was very aware of her car being near to water.
Kane called the “low velocity” collision a result of a “momentary lapse of concentration” which had an “utterly tragic” outcome. He added that the Holbourn family had been “absolutely broken” by the events.
At sentencing Sheriff Ian Cruickshank said the court expressed its sympathy to all family members affected by the tragic death of Kathleen McLachlan, some of whom were present at Thursday’s hearing.
He highlighted he had to follow guidelines when considering what sentence to impose.
The sheriff said there were no aggravating factors but a number of mitigating factors, including Holbourn’s “exceptional level of remorse”, her good driving record and the fact that she provided assistance at the scene.
It was also Sheriff Cruickshank’s belief that given the level of Holbourn’s remorse there was no sentence he could impose which would serve to punish her to “any greater degree”.
He added: “There is no sentence that I can impose that would bring back Mrs McLachlan or in any way compensate [her family] for their loss.”
The sheriff said at best a sentence could provide a “degree of closure”.
He placed Holbourn under a community payback order including 12 months of supervision, which could also enable her to take part in a restorative justice scheme.
She was also given 100 hours of unpaid work to complete and was disqualified from driving for 12 months.
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