Driver jailed for killing teacher in Aberdeenshire trailer crash

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Yvonne LumsdenImage source, Lumsden family
Image caption,

Yvonne Lumsden died in the collision in 2019

A driver found guilty of causing a mother-of-two's death after a trailer came off his vehicle and collided with her car has been jailed for two years.

Teacher Yvonne Lumsden, 35, died following the crash on the A948 near Ellon in Aberdeenshire in July 2019.

Raymond Lamb, 31, had denied causing her death by dangerous driving but was found guilty last month.

At the High Court in Glasgow, Judge Alistair Watson told Lamb: "Ultimately you were grossly negligent."

Mrs Lumsden's husband Stuart said he felt the sentence was "very light".

He told BBC Scotland he felt it showed that "those that do wrong are thought more of than the victims of the crime".

The judge said it must have been "obvious" when Lamb attached the trailer that day that its condition was "extremely poor".

"It is inescapable that it is your fault that Mrs Lumsden died," he said.

First offender Lamb, from Maud, Aberdeenshire, was also found guilty of causing death while driving without insurance.

He was also banned from the road for five years.

Image caption,

Raymond Lamb was convicted by a jury last month

After the verdict at the High Court in Aberdeen last month, Mr Lumsden said he could tell the couple's two young daughters - now aged seven and nine - that justice had been done.

The trailer detached from Lamb's Mitsubishi before hitting a Volkswagen Polo driven by Mrs Lumsden.

Lamb had claimed he had done all he could to ensure the trailer was safe.

Tragic consequences

David Moggach, defending, said on Friday: "He had struggled to come to terms with the tragic consequences. He thinks about the incident every day."

After the trial, Mrs Lumsden's husband had said he was relieved at the jury's verdict, and would explain it to their daughters.

"The individual that was responsible for their mum's death was found guilty," he said.

"They are still young, but the main thing is knowing justice has been served.

"Yvonne was a loving mother, a stand-up caring individual that would do anything for anybody."

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