A lorry driver has been banned from the roads for 30 months for causing a horrific crash which killed a pensioner.
Glenn Craib has vowed to never drive lorries again after the fatal crash, which happened as he was transporting Christmas trees on the A90 Aberdeen to Dundee road, coming out of Careston.
He pulled out on to the dual carriageway into the central reservation, leaving part of his vehicle hanging over the main road.
While he waited for traffic to clear so he could turn south, the trailer was struck by a white Skoda Octavia.
The driver, Witold Solski, from Dundee, was cut free from the wreckage but could not be saved.
A 30-year-old female passenger in Mr Solski’s car was taken to Ninewells Hospital but was not seriously injured.
Craib, of Cockmuir Place, Elgin, previously admitted causing the 65-year-old’s death by driving carelessly on November 25, 2015.
He had originally been on trial at the High Court in Aberdeen accused of dangerous driving, but admitted the lesser charge part-way through and it was accepted by the Crown.
At his sentencing hearing yesterday, the High Court in Edinburgh heard he was “devastated” about the crash and will never drive lorries again.
Judge John Morrice QC told the 46-year-old that the amount of carelessness shown by Craig, although not minimal, was at the lower end of the scale.
But he added: “You were in charge of an HGV and that being so your responsibility to drive carefully was all the more pressing.”
Defence counsel Jonathan Crowe told the court: “It appears to have been a very momentary lapse of judgement.”
He added “a comparatively small amount” of the trailer was left encroaching into the northbound carriageway, but said his client had been left “absolutely devastated” by events.
Mr Crowe added: “He tells me he will never drive a lorry again.”
Judge Morris ordered Craib to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work and disqualified him from driving for 30 months.