Drug-driver jailed for causing motorcyclist death

Yvonne Motherwell was an experienced motorcyclist

A drug-driver has been jailed for three years for causing the death of an experienced motorcyclist.

Dean Jackson, 22, made a right turn directly into the path of Yvonne Motherwell giving her insufficient time to avoid a collision with his BMW.

The 53-year-old mother-of-three suffered "catastrophic" injuries.

Jackson earlier admitted causing the victim's death by driving without due care and attention and while over the limit for a cocaine metabolite.

The incident occurred on the A706 near Wilsontown in Lanarkshire on 3 April 2021.

The earlier court hearing heard Jackson failed to maintain proper observations of the road ahead and failed to observe and give way to the motorcyclist.

A judge at the High Court in Edinburgh rejected a plea to spare the 22-year-old a jail sentence.

Lord Beckett told him: "There is no alternative to a prison sentence because of the gravity of the crime which you committed."

He said that Ms Motherwell's lawful driving did not contribute to the incident, but rather Jackson's "sustained lack of attention" caused it.

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The judge told Jackson that he could have faced a four-year prison term if he had not pleaded guilty.

Jackson, an IT engineer, passed a breath test but a preliminary drug test gave a positive indication for cocaine.

Advocate depute Alex Prentice told the court: "At the material time the accused was more than three times the specified limit for Benzoylecgonine (BZE), the major metabolite in cocaine."

The court heard that BZE can remain in a user's blood system for up to 48 hours, while cocaine usually disappears within a few hours of being taken.

Mr Prentice said weather, visibility and road surface all provided fine driving conditions.

After the crash a woman who was driving behind Jackson asked him how he had not seen the motorcyclists approaching from the opposite direction and he replied: "I never saw them."

Accident investigators concluded: "The collision has been the result of the driver of the black BMW motor car failing to pay full attention to the road ahead."

They calculated that Ms Motherwell's motorbike could have been visible to the car driver for between 7.71 and 9.59 seconds.

The court heard that Ms Motherwell rode motorbikes for 17 years prior to the collision and was described as "a very competent and extremely cautious rider".

Defence counsel Janice Green said Jackson's position was that he was distracted from the road ahead because of another parked vehicle at the junction where he was turning.

"On any view, he was an inexperienced driver at the time of the incident," she said.

Ms Green said Jackson has shown remorse and suffers a depressive disorder. She asked the court to take into account his age and said sentencing guidelines for dealing with young people applied.