A man on trial accused of killing three friends in a crash broke down yesterday as he told a court he still “dreams” of them.
Marin Rachev is on trial at the High Court in Aberdeen accused of causing the death of his three backseat passengers by driving dangerously on March 12 last year.
It is alleged the 35-year-old pulled out on to the A90 Aberdeen to Dundee road at the Drumlithie junction without giving way, into the path of a bus.
The court has heard that when his red Renault Scenic was struck by the bus, two of his passengers were thrown on to the road and hit by another vehicle.
Yesterday Rachev, of Sandilands Drive, gave evidence and told the jury he was “sorry” for the crash.
Through an interpreter, the Bulgarian was asked by defence counsel Frances Connor how the accident had affected him.
He replied: “Very badly. I do not wish this experience on anyone.
“Your friends are coming into your dreams every single night.
“It’s very hard. I am sorry about that, I’m sorry for the bus driver, I’m sorry for everything that happened. It was a bad moment; it was a bad chance. I cannot explain it any other way.”
Ms Connor then asked Rachev if he thought that he “made a mistake”.
He answered: “I do not know. Everything happened so fast.”
When the bus hit, Rachev said he “felt short of breath” and looked at his sister-in-law Ivanka Dobreva for what he thought was the last time.
He told the court: “I looked at Ivanka for the last time, but I was not able to talk.
“I was struggling to unfasten the seatbelt, I breathed but I was still short of breath.
“I managed to open the door and fall to the ground and I don’t remember what happened after.”
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Ms Connor asked if Rachev could see Ms Dobreva when in the car.
He added: “Yes, but everything was white, in a haze, like in a fog and it was as if we were looking into each other’s eyes but we were unable to say anything.”
Rachev said he could see Dimitar Georgiev sitting “behind him” but not his other passengers, Zaharina Hristova and Silyan Stefanov.
“I believe they were on the ground on the tarmac,” he said. “I saw them after I got out of the car, but I had fallen previously because I was short of breath.”
He told the court he remembered people at the scene trying to put him in the recovery position, but urged them to go and help Mr Georgiev.
The trial, before Lord Kinclaven, continues.
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