'Boy racers' face jail after Ayrshire crash deaths

Four "boy racers" who were involved in a three-car crash in East Ayrshire which claimed the lives of two people have been told they may be jailed.

Gary Nicholson, 20, admitted causing the death of Patricia Brown, 52, and Alec Stewart, 18, by dangerous driving on the B769, near Stewarton.

Ewan Alvarez McLeod and Yung Lau, both aged 20, and Lee Copeland, 23, admitted dangerous driving on 20 April 2014.

All had bail continued and were told custodial sentences may be imposed.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard that on the day of the crash, the accused and others had met in Stewarton and were planning to travel to a "car cruise" event in Irvine.

'Boy racers'

During the journey, the cars driven by Lau, Nicholson and Alverez McLeod pulled away from the group and overtook a car driven by Peter Shaw with his wife and young child as passengers.

The court heard that Mr Shaw commented to his wife Caroline: "Boy racers, I'll let them get by."

About 20 seconds later Copeland also overtook the couple.

The convoy later came to a dip, where a passenger in Lau's car, Sean Beveridge, said: "We've hit the 100."

He saw a Peugeot approaching from the opposite direction being driven safely and on its side of the road.

As the convoy drove at speeds of up to 100mph, Nicholson lost control of his vehicle, which crossed over the centre lines and into the path of the Peugeot being driven by John Brown, with his wife Patricia as a passenger.

Mr Brown told the court he had become aware of a Corsa "skidding across the road" with "smoke belching from the wheels".

He performed an emergency braking procedure, but after their cars collided, Nicholson's vehicle then hit a tree and went into a field.

Car fire

Alvarez McLeod swerved to avoid the crashed vehicles and his car went onto its side. He managed to climb out and made a 999 call.

Mrs Brown was trapped in her car and died at the scene from a head injury.

When Mr Shaw arrived he went to help Nicholson whose Corsa was in a field.

With the front of the car smoking and about to catch fire, Mr Shaw and another man pulled Alec Stewart from the wreckage.

The 18-year-old had sustained multiple injuries and later died in hospital.

Nicholson, from Stewarton, East Ayrshire, told police that the crash was his fault as he was "going too fast".

Alvarez McLeod and Yung Lau are also both from Stewarton. The fourth accused Copeland is from Irvine.

Judge Lady Scott continued the case for background reports on all four and imposed interim driving disqualifications.