Bus driver found guilty of crushing pensioner against his own car

A bus driver and former special police constable crushed an elderly man against his own car as he pulled out of a car park in Carrbridge.

In the first remote jury trial at the Inverness Justice Centre, the foreman stood before a microphone in Eden Court Theatre a mile away and gave their majority guilty verdict.

It was beamed to courtroom two with all the jurors seen on a video wall watching the trial unfold on a big screen.

Sentence on Dunn, who was disqualified from driving in the interim, had sentence deferred until March 11 for a background report and had his bail continued.

Dunn, of Muirton Place, Boat of Garten had denied driving his Stagecoach bus dangerously in Carrbridge car park on March 22, 2017 and seriously injuring then 74 year old Les Crichton.

He suffered a double fracture to his pelvis and damage to his intestine and spent weeks in hospital and rehabilitation.

The trial lasted five days, with four days of evidence and speeches as the first day was needed to choose a jury.

Unlike earlier use of much criticised technology at the Justice Centre, the case proceeded smoothly.

The jury heard that 53 year old Dunn had exchanged words with Mr Crichton, now aged 78, prior to him returning from a toilet visit.

The elderly motorist had parked in front of the coach, close to a junction to be nearer to the toilet building after returning via Carrbridge from Aberdeen with a car for the Harry Fairbairn Inverness franchise.

Mr Crichton was then squashed between his car and the rear of the bus as it moved off while he was walking to board his vehicle.

He was rolled along the side of his Kia Sportage before falling on to the ground and sustaining a head injury.

Fiscal depute David Morton asked the jury to convict Dunn of dangerous driving, saying Mr Crichton's inconsiderate parking did not absolve the bus driver from his responsibilities.

"He was not aware of his surroundings and drove dangerously. He didn't watch that blind spot. It was all over in two seconds. He passed Mr Crichton, knew he was there because he had a schedule to keep.

"This was not a tragic accident with no-one to blame, it was a piece of criminal driving," Mr Morton added.

Nigel Beaumont, defending, argued that it was Mr Crichton who was at fault.

He told the court: "When Mr Crichton came back from the toilet, he stood at the rear of his vehicle.

"Mr Dunn made the perfectly reasonable assumption that he was waiting for the bus to go and decided to get his bus out of its predicament caused by Mr Crichton's inconsiderate and dangerous parking.

"Mr Crichton was not in danger at the rear of his car and then decided to move, completely wrongly and dangerously, and did not consider the back of the bus leaving less space with horrendous consequences for him.

"Mr Dunn cannot be looking backwards at the same time as looking forwards. How does that fit with dangerous driving?"

Pensioner became 'meat in the sandwich' between his own car and bus, court told