Father's anger as lorry death driver avoids prison

Chloe Morrison's family said she was a loved daughter, sister and granddaughter

A lorry driver who caused a nursery teacher's death has been sentenced to 100 hours unpaid work and banned from driving for 12 months.

Chloe Morrison, 26, was struck by a fully extended part of a stabiliser on John O'Donnell's lorry as she walked along a pavement with her mother.

Her father screamed "No, no, no" as O'Donnell, 53, was sentenced.

O'Donnell, of Inverurie, was convicted last month of causing Ms Morrison's death by careless driving.

He had denied causing her death on the A82 near Drumnadrochit on 25 October 2019.

At the High Court in Stirling, Ms Morrison's father Robert Morrison screamed at the top of his voice: "I'm so sorry, Chloe" when judge Lord Stuart said O'Donnell's case did not warrant a custodial sentence.

Someone else on the public benches left the court by a back door, slamming it loudly.

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Following the sentencing, Chloe's family said an injustice had been served and they had been left to relive the day she died.

Mr Morrison said his family was devastated.

He said: "It's as though Chloe's life mattered only to us."

Mr Morrison added: "She is still our beautiful girl - a beautiful daughter and loving sister, loving granddaughter. Loved by all who knew the real Chloe."

'Tragic outcome'

Lord Stuart said how the outrigger on O'Donnell's lorry had became insecure was "unanswered".

He said other unanswered questions were why the lorry had not been serviced by a manufacturer or its agents, and whether any safety upgrades might have warned O'Donnell there was an issue.

Lord Stuart said O'Donnell's carelessness must have been his failure to spot the outrigger in his mirror at some point over a distance of just under a mile when it was known to have become fully extended.

But he said it could not be known whether this occurred over a minute before the collision, or just seconds before.

The judge told O'Donnell: "Against this background, whilst recognising the tragic outcome in this case, I consider that placed in its overall context, your culpability for the death of Miss Morrison is significantly less than it might otherwise have been."

John O'Donnell was returning from a job in Skye when the incident happened

Last month's trial at the High Court in Inverness heard O'Donnell had driven his lorry with a crane attached from Oldmeldrum in Aberdeenshire to Skye on 24 October 2019.

He stayed overnight and said he had dropped stabilising legs the following day because of gales - although he was not trained to do so - before setting off on his return journey.

O'Donnell insisted he did not extend or touch the controls of the stabilisers' outrigger beams.

But CCTV showed the nearside outrigger's yellow warning sign, indicating it was unlocked, when he filled up with diesel at a filling station on Skye.

A passenger in a car travelling in the opposite direction also saw the outrigger swing out seconds before reaching the collision scene.

The court heard Ms Morrison, who was from Drumnadrochit, died from multiple fractures as the outrigger hit her back and propelled her 35m (115ft) in front of the lorry.