Driver guilty of killing pedestrian in high-speed crash

A motorist was recorded driving at 91mph when he ploughed into a pedestrian on a Scottish dual carriageway and killed him instantly.

Raymond Munro failed to notice David McCallum, 50, was crossing the road in East Kilbride and struck him, causing "catastrophic" injuries.

After a trial lasting more than two weeks at the High Court in Stirling, jurors found Munro guilty of causing death by dangerous driving.

The 43-year-old was remanded in custody and will be sentenced next month.

The trial heard that McCallum was walking home from the nearby Village Inn when he crossed the Kingsway dual carriageway on 23 September 2022.

Jurors were told that he was thrown into the air by the collision at about 20:50 and he would have died instantly.

Pathologist Dr Leighanne Deboys said: "They were at the extreme end of injuries we'd expect to see in a pedestrian.

"They would have had to have been caused by a high-velocity impact."

Munro, of Uddingston in South Lanarkshire, opted not to give evidence.

But the court heard that he told a police officer and paramedic at the scene that he had been driving at "approximately 50" in the outside lane.

He told them he was overtaking other vehicles when there was a bang and his windscreen came in.

"I didn't see anyone," he said.

Jurors were told he was driving his partner's VW Golf home from work.

They heard that the speed at impact was logged by a sensor behind the VW badge on the bonnet. It was 91mph.

It was corroborated by two cameras at a nearby BP garage, which caught the "traumatic" accident on CCTV. A calculation based on this revealed a speed of 89mph moments before the impact.

The court heard that the road was well lit, subject to a 50mph limit, and the visibility was good.

Although Munro should have had a "clear, unobstructed view" of McCallum crossing, there was no evidence that he braked before hitting him.

Munro, a panel-beater who had spent days fixing up the almost-new VW in his boss's garage just before the collision, hung his head in the dock as the footage was shown to the jury.

The court heard that after the accident he passed a breathalyser – reading zero for alcohol – but failed a roadside test for cocaine.

However, the Crown did not allege his driving was impaired by this, and no post-incident blood test was carried out to determine his actual level of cocaine. A charge alleging he had refused to provide a sample was dropped.

Munro showed no emotion when the majority verdict was returned.

Judge Lord Harrower remanded him in custody.

He deferred sentence for a background report and psychological assessment until 17 March.