The widow of a cyclist who died after being hit by a HGV in a tragic road accident on a Highland Stirling road appealed to a court to show mercy to the truck driver.
Retired teacher Neil Smith, of Cambuskenneth, was killed while out cycling with his son on the A85 ‘Road to the Isles’ on August 23, 2021, near Portnellan outside Crianlarich.
They had cycled from Stirling that day and planned to get the train back to the city from there.
HGV driver David McGarry (59), who was driving to Fort William, had admitted causing 74-year-old Mr Smith’s death by driving without due care and attention, failing to make proper observations.
When McGarry appeared for sentence on Wednesday, Stirling Sheriff Court heard that Mr Smith’s wife Dr Savi Maharaj, a senior lecturer in computing science at the University of Stirling, recognised that the death of her “dear husband” whom she described as “kind and thoughtful” had been an accident – and expressed the wish that Mr McGarry would find “peace and a fulfilled life”.
She had said she did not want any form of retribution and if McGarry wanted to make reparation he could support road safety for cyclists and other road users.
The accident had occurred in dry and sunny weather around 5.35pm and the road was closed for around eight hours for investigations.
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The fiscal depute John Adams told the court that Mr Smith, a retired art teacher who kept in generally good health, had sustained traumatic neck and chest injuries in the 40mph collision.
Efforts had been made to resuscitate Mr Smith by other motorists at the scene.
McGarry’s advocate Gillian Ross told Sheriff Charles Lugton that nothing she said in mitigation would take away the pain and suffering the accident had caused. Its consequences, she added, were something McGarry had been battling with on a daily basis - “a battle that is unlikely to ever end.”
McGarry, she said, had been “touched” by the comments from Mr Smith’s family “even if he is struggling to accept these comments are deserved”.
However, he should have seen Mr Smith on the road that day. The guilty plea to careless driving had been tendered on the basis that it had been “a momentary lapse”.
McGarry, who had been an HGV driver for 42 years, only had a minor speeding conviction on his licence from 2013.
His distress and shock following the accident had been visible to all at the scene, she added.
McGarry had not worked since the collision and did not intend to drive again. He had been diagnosed with PTSD and was receiving counselling.
He had also had a lower leg amputated last year due to diabetes and was trying to rebuild his life.
Sheriff Lugton described the case as “very tragic” and the Smith family’s comments as “very generous” and “greatly to their credit”.
He noted that McGarry had been a driver for 42 years and he had clearly showed remorse and continued to be remorseful.
He sentenced McGarry – of Whitehaven, Cumbria – to a Community Payback Order comprising 160 hours’ unpaid work, giving him 18 months to complete the order. McGarry was also disqualified from driving for 16 months.
