HGV driver on video call caused death of elderly woman in head-on crash
Blair Jardine, 31, caused Sarah Wood's death after his truck struck a car being driven by the pensioner's niece.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard on Friday how the collision took place on the A70 Edinburgh to Ayr road on June 4 last year, close to Ochiltree, East Ayrshire.
Prosecutor Alex Prentice KC said the incident took place at an unclassified junction at Killoch Collery.
Mr Prentice said the speed limit for HGVs was 40 miles per hour. However, investigators established Jardine was driving at 56 mph.
Describing the moments leading up to the incident, Mr Prentice said: 'Ahead of him was a white van which had stopped and was signalling to turn right into a depot. There was a stationary car behind the van.
'Blair Jardine was on a hands-free video call with another person, and he did not pay attention to the road ahead.
'Consequently, he failed to react to the presence of the stationary vehicle, braked sharply, causing the wheels to lock, and he was unable to stop in time to avoid a collision with the statioary westbound traffic so he swerved into the opposing carriageway causing a head on collision with [the] motor vehicle.
'[Two people] were both severely injured. Sarah Wood later died because of the injuries she sustained.'
Jardine pleaded guilty to causing death and severe injury by dangerous driving.
Mr Prentice said that following the collision, police and fire and rescue personnel rushed to the scene. They cut both Ms Wood and her niece from the wreckage of the younger woman's MG ZS vehicle.
Both were taken to the Queen University Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow for emergency treatment.
The court heard that police detained Jardine at the scene.
Mr Prentice added: 'Blair Jardine identified himself as the driver of the vehicle. Blair Jardine also freely stated to the police officers that he had been using his mobile telephone on speaker at the time of the collision.
'Later enquiry revealed he had been on a video call with another person and that the screens were blank.'
Officers at the scene also saw several locked wheel tyre marks on the road. Mr Prentice said this demonstrated that Jardine 'applied emergency braking' and steered into the opposing lane.
Mr Prentice said friends and family knew Sarah as Sadie and that she was a widow, a mum of two and a retired retail manager.
The advocate depute said doctors treating Sarah found she had 'extensive injury' including fractures to her nose, a rib, a lumbar vertebra and both hands.
The court heard that on June 5, Sarah had surgery and suffered a stroke after she came out of the theatre.
Mr Prentice said that on June 7, she was transferred to the major trauma unit at the hospital but continued to 'deteriorate rapidly' – she later died at 7.15pm on June 10.
Meanwhile, her niece – who was aged 59 at the time of the collision – suffered a head injury, rib, knee, leg and wrist fractures and a broken hip.
Mr Prentice added: 'She has had multiple orthopaedic plastic surgery interventions since then.
'She was discharged on October 15, 2024, having spent four months in hospital following the collision. She is continuing with rehabilitation.'
Defence advocate Emma Toner said she'd reserve her mitigation for a future hearing. She said the court was legally obliged to call for a report into her client's background as he was a first offender.
Ms Toner added: 'He is deeply remorseful.'
The advocate also asked for her client to be given bail.
However, judge Lady Haldane remanded Jardine in custody.
She added: 'The events of June 4, 2024, are evidently a tragedy to all of those who were affected by them.
'The seriousness of these offences is such that a custodial sentence is inevitable.
'The severity of these offences is such that the appropriate way to proceed is to remand you in custody.'
Jardine will be sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh on August 1, 2025.
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This was the all-important alert telling HQ that his unit was going into action, to clear the airwaves, to await his next update and to have reinforcements despatched immediately. 'But communications just ended with my transmission. I never got the confirmation back that they had heard us.' Did anyone even know they were there? With no phone and no radio (standard-issue Army transmitters were notoriously unreliable in freezing weather), there had been no option but to send one of his two men to run off in search of a telephone. 'Luckily, as it turned out, the unit had heard my 'Contact! Wait out!' and had already deployed a quick-reaction force from the resident unit in Dungannon,' says Andrew. A company from the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders were on the ground inside 15 minutes, followed swiftly by a helicopter to take the McAliskeys to hospital. 'Then we handed over the scene,' says Andrew, 'and extracted ourselves.' Having had no sleep for more than 24 hours, he returned to barracks for a shower and the mandatory debrief with the police and the military legal team. Then it was on to the next task. A year later, Andrew would be in the thick of the action in the Falklands War, shortly after the terrorists had received sentences (life for ringleader Watson, 20 years for Graham and 15 years for Smallwood, who was later murdered by the IRA). Andrew never heard from Bernadette, who would always maintain that he and his men were from the hated Paras, had no interest in saving her and had made no effort. 'Had it been left to the Paras, I would be dead,' she told the Mail in 2002, claiming that it was the Argylls who saved the day. 'Rob the medic saved our lives. He called a military helicopter and got the Paras to hand over their medical packs to stem our wounds. 'The Paras were confused and paralysed. It was the Argylls who took control and we did not die.' She also gave a crystal decanter to the military surgeon whose brilliant handiwork in hospital had saved both her and her husband (even though the doctor was a Para). One can but wonder what Bernadette would say if she knew what really happened that day. The Mail has approached her for comment. In such horrific circumstances, she can be forgiven for not knowing who was who. She showed commendable fortitude that day simply by keeping herself alive – and even cracking a joke. Having become disillusioned with politics and politicians, she would go on to devote her life to social projects in South Tyrone, as she still does. Despite her lifelong condemnation of the British state, this tenacious activist would never hesitate to attack Sinn Fein, the IRA and the Irish government, too, for letting down their own people. The horrors of that day left their mark on all the family, including Bernadette's daughter, Roisin, who later spent some time in jail, while pregnant, fighting extradition to Germany following a 1996 IRA mortar attack on a British Army base (repeated extradition attempts by the Germans were ultimately denied by a British judge). The attack on the McAliskeys also led to savage reprisals by the IRA. Days later, an eight-man unit murdered 86-year-old First World War hero and retired politician Sir Norman Stronge, 86, along with his only son, James, in the family home, Tynan Abbey. The murderers then torched the place to the ground. But the aftermath could have been far worse had Andrew and his team not done what they did that January day in County Tyrone. While he is fiercely proud of the SAS, he plays down his own role. 'We just did our best in the circumstances. And it didn't matter which side the attackers were on. They were just terrorists as far as I was concerned. 'We had every justification to shoot them but we showed restraint. If our actions had been different, then I might now find myself in the dock. But I've not said anything since.' So why talk now? 'Because now is the time to talk.'
