A man who turned in front of a motorcycle and caused a fatal collision has been found guilty of causing death by careless driving.
Enrique Maffiote, from Tenerife, was visiting the Highlands with his wife and child when he made the ill-judged manoeuvre on the A82 by Glencoe.
Ross Dominick, 35, from Johnstone, was thrown from his BMW S1000R and suffered multiple, serious, non-survivable injuries.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The trial had heard how Mr Dominick was part of an informally organised ride out, which had begun at Asda in Govan that morning, heading for Fort William.
He had become separated from the friend he was riding with by traffic.
A police collision investigator told the court that the motorcyclist was travelling at between 45 and 60 miles per hour in his own lane when the collision occurred.
Damage to the Mazda hire car driven by Maffiote indicated the motorcycle had been in an upright position at the point of impact, potentially indicating that Mr Dominick had “not had time to react and apply the brakes”.
The investigation concluded that Maffiote would have had at least 6.93 seconds to see the motorcycle and rider before the collision.
Maffiote’s wife, Anna Maria, told the court that she had spotted Mr Dominick as he overtook another vehicle telling her husband “no, no, not just now” as he began his manoeuvre.
Asked if the collision might have been prevented if he had stopped, she replied: “Perhaps, yes.”
Giving evidence in his own defence, Maffiote, 55, had told the court: “I only knew that there was a motorbike when the collision happened.”
“I looked. I saw the road in front. I saw the other vehicles and the bike was not there.”
Driver did not want to hold up traffic
Under cross-examination, Maffiote told the court that he had not come to a complete stop before completing the manoeuvre because he did not want to hold up the vehicles travelling behind him.
Following all the evidence, a jury took under two hours to return a majority guilty verdict on the single charge.
Fiscal depute Niall MacDonald told Sheriff Sara Matheson: “The deceased was aged 35 at the time of the collision. He is survived by his parents, sister, partner and three children aged 12, eight and six at the time of the collision.
“He spent most of his working life as a big machine operator and had latterly worked as a car valeter.”
Mr MacDonald handed up a victim impact statement prepared by Mr Dominick’s father on behalf of the family.
Graham Mann, for Maffiote, said: “In the course of his evidence, he reflected on what he recognises would be an extremely emotional situation for the family and loved ones of Mr Dominick.”
After telling the court his client has never been in trouble before, he continued: “If it wasn’t clear from his evidence, it has certainly been made clear to myself that he remains extremely affected by the events.
Biker’s death a ‘great loss and tragedy’
“He recognises that great loss and the tragedy of it.”
Sheriff Matheson said: “I find sentencing in such cases extremely difficult. The loss to the friends and family of Ross Dominick is immeasurable – no sentence I can impose can ease their pain.
“I should stress that I am sentencing not on the basis of the outcome and the tragic death from your actions but on the nature of your driving whereby a momentary inattention and bad decision have had appalling effect and outcome.
“I can see that the victim impact statement speaks very powerfully of the loss which the family have had to bear and I can in no way reflect that with the sentence.”
She fined Maffiote £1,875 and disqualified him from driving for 12 months.
Speaking after the verdict, Mr Dominck’s family, who had been present in court throughout the trial, expressed their frustration that Maffiote had not accepted responsibility earlier.
The victim’s mother, Irene Dominck, said: “It would have been kinder if he had pled guilty, he knew he killed Ross.”
His father Ian told the Press and Journal: “He made a mistake – he should just have admitted it.”
Sister Dana added: “It is the emotional turmoil he has put us through this week – having to hear and see things we never wanted to.”