Norwich driver who killed grandmother in crash spared jail

Colin Grant, 60, a professional clock repairer, was at the wheel of a hire car when he crossed the centre line and collided head-on with another car seriously injuring 73-year-old passenger Valerie MacKinnon. 

She died more than three weeks after the crash in August 2021 despite being transferred to a high dependency unit in Glasgow with fractures and internal injuries.

Valerie MacKinnon, a grandmother from Skye, died three weeks after the crash in August 2021 (Image: Police Scotland)

Grant, of Manor Farm Close in Drayton, appeared to be sentenced at Inverness Sheriff Court having admitted causing death by careless driving at a hearing in January this year.

He also pleaded guilty to failing to notify authorities of having had epileptic seizures.

The court was told that had he followed DVLA rules about his medical condition he might not have been driving.

'He shouldn’t have been driving'

The earlier hearing had heard how Grant and his wife had picked up a Honda Jazz hire car in Aberdeen and planned to tour the north of Scotland.

The crash happened on the A87 between Balmacara and Kyle of Lochalsh after the couple had visited scenic Eilean Donan castle, which featured in TV show Game of Thrones, and were heading to Skye.

A convoy of motorcycles had overtaken Grant’s vehicle in the moments before the crash, the court was told. 

Colin Grant and his wife had visited Eilean Donan castle, known for Game of Thrones, before the crash (Image: Trey Ratcliff/Flickr)

One biker described how his car “almost closed the door on” his overtaking line as it strayed across the white line into the path of the oncoming car.

Grant’s wife told police she had been “in and out of daydreams” before she  “suddenly became aware that the car was straying into the opposing carriageway”.

She shouted at her husband to alert him, but it was “too late for her to pull the steering wheel to the left” to try to avert the collision.

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Following the crash a witness reported hearing Grant’s wife saying: “He shouldn’t have been driving.”

The Skoda car Valerie MacKinnon, from Sleat in the Isle of Skye, was travelling in was being driven by her 17-year-old grandson, who was driving on a provisional licence. One of her daughters was also in the car.

Professional Norwich clock repairer Colin Grant had failed to notify the DVLA of epileptic seizures (Image: LinkedIn)

Mark Moir KC, for Grant, said: “He fully accepts his concentration was not fully focussed on the oncoming traffic in those few seconds and that his failure in that regard led to the accident.”

He told Sheriff Sara Matheson: “Nothing he can say or do can ease the family’s suffering. He continues to express his deep regret for his actions on that day.

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“He lives it every day and feels so bad for everyone involved – the victim, the family affected. He said he thinks about it all the time.”

'Life may not have been so tragically lost'

The court heard that despite failing to notify the DVLA of previous epileptic seizures, it was concluded that Grant had not suffered from a medical episode at the time of the crash.

Mr Moir told the court: “He accepts that he should not have been driving at that time because of his medical condition.”

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But Sheriff Matheson told Grant: “But for those failures you may not have been driving at all on the day in question, and thus Mrs MacKinnon’s life may not have been so tragically lost.”

She added that no fault for the accident lay with Mrs MacKinnon’s grandson.

The fatal crash happened on the A87 in the Scottish Highlands (Image: Google)

Grant, who had no previous driving convictions, was sentenced to a community order to complete 200 hours of unpaid work.

He was also banned from driving for two years after which he will have to pass an extended retest.

Drivers who notify the DVA of an epileptic seizure can have their licence taken away. They can reapply if they do not have a seizure for at least a year.