Latest news with #Prentice
Scottish Sun
6 days ago
- Scottish Sun
HGV driver was on video call moments before horror crash where Scots OAP, 88, died
Officers at the scene also saw several locked wheel tyre marks on the road FATAL SMASH HGV driver was on video call moments before horror crash where Scots OAP, 88, died Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) AN HGV driver was on a video call moments before his lorry collided head-on with a car, which led to an 88-year-old woman losing her life, a court heard. Blair Jardine, 31, caused Sarah Wood's death after his truck struck a car being driven by the pensioner's niece, Lyndsay Thomson. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 The High Court in Edinburgh heard that the tragic crash happened on June 4 last year Credit: Getty 3 The crash happened on the A70 Edinburgh to Ayr road Credit: GOOGLE MAPS The High Court in Edinburgh heard on Friday how the collision took place on the A70 Edinburgh to Ayr road on June 4, 2024, 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 stationery west bound traffic so he swerved into the opposing carriageway causing a head on collision with Lyndsay Thomson's motor vehicle. 'Lyndsay Thomson and Sarah Wood were both severely injured. Sarah later died because of the injuries she sustained.' The story emerged after Jardine, of Crosshill, South Ayrshire, 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 Sarah and Lyndsay from the wreckage of the younger woman's MG ZS vehicle. Diddy faces just two years in jail after overhyped prosecution but could still go BROKE, says lawyer Both were taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow for emergency treatment. The court heard that, meanwhile, 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.' The events of June 4 2024, are evidently a tragedy to all of those who were affected by them Judge Lady Haldane 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 called Sarah Sadie - she was a widow, a mum of two and a retired retail manager. The advocate depute that 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 2024, Sarah had surgery and suffered a stroke after she came out of the theatre. He is deeply remorseful Defence advocate Emma Toner Mr Prentice said that on June 7 2024 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 2024. Meanwhile, Lyndsay, 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 and said the court was legally obliged to call for a report into her client's background as he was a first offender. The seriousness of these offences is such that a custodial sentence is inevitable Judge Lady Haldane 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.
STV News
6 days ago
- STV News
HGV driver on video call caused death of elderly woman in head-on crash
A HGV driver was on a video call moments before his lorry collided head-on with a car which led to an 88-year-old woman losing her life, a court heard. 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. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Shining skill
Jun. 9—MOSES LAKE — This isn't exactly the Columbia Basin Technical Skills Center's first trip to the nationals. "For 11 years straight we have placed at state competition, and eight of those years we've qualified for nationals," said Terri Pixlee, who teaches video game programming at CBTECH. "We've been all over the country. We've been to Chicago, Utah, Georgia twice, Florida (and) Maryland and this will be our second time in California." Pixlee's students Alex Meyer, Hailey Harper and Ethan Huntley competed in April at the Future Business Leaders of America game programming competition in Bellevue, she said. One team of three students took second place and will go on to nationals in Anaheim, California. Another team of two, Neri Hernandez and Jaden Salazar, placed seventh, not high enough to be assured of a berth but enough to be alternates in case some other Washington team doesn't show. So far, that doesn't seem likely, Pixlee said. "It doesn't happen very often, but it does happen," she said. In addition, Felix Neutzhorn and Zander Leasher from the CBTECH Fire Sciences and Roan Prentice from the Automotive program qualified for nationals at the SkillsUSA state competitions in Spokane in March. They'll go to the national competition in Atlanta, Georgia in July. Prentice took first place at the state competition, said instructor Lonny Steinmetz. He and teammate David Couture also won first place at the Top Tech Challenge in Yakima. CBTECH was the first school to take first at the Top Tech Challenge twice in a row, Steinmetz added. Prentice came away from the competitions with more than just bragging rights, Steinmetz said. "He won about $56,000 in scholarships along with some tools," he said. For the video game competition, the students divide themselves into teams of three, usually including an artist, a programmer and a level designer, Pixlee said. At least one of those students also needs some serious presentation chops, she said. "It's like 'Shark Tank,'" she said. "They have to present their game and sell it as if they're selling it to one of the gaming houses, so it's really kind of important they have a speaker as well." The video game creators will be in Anaheim June 29-July 2, Pixlee said. They can't afford a side trip to Disneyland, she said, but there are other things they can occupy their off-time with. "There's plenty of attractions they want to see," she said. "Venice Beach, they want to, you know, things like that that don't cost much. We'll find a little arcade." The students going to Atlanta will be there June 23-27, said Fire Sciences teacher Lynn Dodd. "It's huge for these kids," Dodd said. "The student we took last year had barely ever been out of town. It's one of their first times getting to stay in a hotel, getting to go to these fancy restaurants, and then we were taking them on their first flights across the United States. And it's like, this is cool that these kids get this opportunity to compete with the best students of the state. That we get to be a part of that is pretty awesome."
Scotsman
04-06-2025
- Business
- Scotsman
The place in Scotland where 94 per cent of people travel by ScotRail
The train operator says even just talking about improvements boosts passenger numbers Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... I used to think most people in Scotland rarely travelled by train, wedded to the convenience of their cars despite decades of government attempts to persuade them otherwise. But while it is true that the overall proportion of all journeys by rail remains tiny - just 2 per cent compared to half by car - I was taken aback by its popularity in some areas of the country when I saw a ScotRail presentation on Friday. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad As someone who travels to Glasgow a lot, it's good to see that the peak-time fares are to be abolished | Jane Barlow/PA It turns out that folk in East Renfrewshire are Scotland's most enthusiastic rail travellers, nearly one third of whom take a train at least once a week. Even more surprising to my mind is that only 6 per cent of people there never travel by train. That's about double the Scottish average for train use, and about two thirds less than the no rail travel rate, of 17 and 16 per cent respectively. By contrast, in areas with fewer stations and less frequent trains, the picture is very different, with just one in 50 Perth and Kinross residents taking the train at least once a week while nearly one third never do. As ScotRail's strategy and planning director Scott Prentice, who presented the figures to the Scottish Association for Public Transport's annual meeting in Glasgow, observed: 'There's a myth out there we need to convert people to use rail. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'No, we don't - they're using us, they're just not using us often enough. So it's about frequency of use - that's how we grow our business.' Mr Prentice pointed to some of the fastest growing areas, including Fife, where he said reliability improvements and the reopening of the Levenmouth line had helped increase passenger numbers by more than half to 3.5 million over the last year. Numbers travelling on the Glasgow to Ayr, Ardrossan and Largs lines were up by one third to 7.1 million, assisted by some 135,000 travelling to the Open golf in Troon last July In fact, Mr Prentice said ScotRail only had to start talking about improvements for patronage to increase, which he said had 'put rail at the front of people's minds'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad As for the fastest growing stations, some have soared past pre-pandemic highs, even if ScotRail overall has still to achieve that. These include Kennishead, on the south side of Glasgow, whose numbers were up one third on a decade ago to 90,000 even before its total more than doubled again in 2024-25 to 185,000. That's been put down to passengers temporarily switching from the nearby East Kilbride line during its closure for electrification, as well as new housing. The fastest growing was on another adjacent line, at Williamwood in East Renfrewshire, where passengers more than doubled for the same reasons to top 400,000 last year, although they were previously below pre-Covid levels. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Other rising stars are on the secondary Edinburgh-Glasgow route via Shotts, thanks to new and more frequent trains, with Curriehill handling nearly 200,000 passengers in 2024-25 - more than three times as many as ten years ago. Livingston South and Kirknewton on the line also saw big growth. But all that doesn't get away from the fact the network is hugely expensive to run, requiring £800 million a year of government funding.
Scotsman
04-06-2025
- Business
- Scotsman
The place in Scotland where 94 per cent of people travel by ScotRail
The train operator says even just talking about improvements boosts passenger numbers Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... I used to think most people in Scotland rarely travelled by train, wedded to the convenience of their cars despite decades of government attempts to persuade them otherwise. But while it is true that the overall proportion of all journeys by rail remains tiny - just 2 per cent compared to half by car - I was taken aback by its popularity in some areas of the country when I saw a ScotRail presentation on Friday. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad As someone who travels to Glasgow a lot, it's good to see that the peak-time fares are to be abolished | Jane Barlow/PA It turns out that folk in East Renfrewshire are Scotland's most enthusiastic rail travellers, nearly one third of whom take a train at least once a week. Even more surprising to my mind is that only 6 per cent of people there never travel by train. That's about double the Scottish average for train use, and about two thirds less than the no rail travel rate, of 17 and 16 per cent respectively. By contrast, in areas with fewer stations and less frequent trains, the picture is very different, with just one in 50 Perth and Kinross residents taking the train at least once a week while nearly one third never do. As ScotRail's strategy and planning director Scott Prentice, who presented the figures to the Scottish Association for Public Transport's annual meeting in Glasgow, observed: 'There's a myth out there we need to convert people to use rail. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'No, we don't - they're using us, they're just not using us often enough. So it's about frequency of use - that's how we grow our business.' Mr Prentice pointed to some of the fastest growing areas, including Fife, where he said reliability improvements and the reopening of the Levenmouth line had helped increase passenger numbers by more than half to 3.5 million over the last year. Numbers travelling on the Glasgow to Ayr, Ardrossan and Largs lines were up by one third to 7.1 million, assisted by some 135,000 travelling to the Open golf in Troon last July In fact, Mr Prentice said ScotRail only had to start talking about improvements for patronage to increase, which he said had 'put rail at the front of people's minds'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad As for the fastest growing stations, some have soared past pre-pandemic highs, even if ScotRail overall has still to achieve that. These include Kennishead, on the south side of Glasgow, whose numbers were up one third on a decade ago to 90,000 even before its total more than doubled again in 2024-25 to 185,000. That's been put down to passengers temporarily switching from the nearby East Kilbride line during its closure for electrification, as well as new housing. The fastest growing was on another adjacent line, at Williamwood in East Renfrewshire, where passengers more than doubled for the same reasons to top 400,000 last year, although they were previously below pre-Covid levels. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Other rising stars are on the secondary Edinburgh-Glasgow route via Shotts, thanks to new and more frequent trains, with Curriehill handling nearly 200,000 passengers in 2024-25 - more than three times as many as ten years ago. Livingston South and Kirknewton on the line also saw big growth. But all that doesn't get away from the fact the network is hugely expensive to run, requiring £800 million a year of government funding.
