Tragic Highlands dad fined for failing to give breath test
A father who survived the canoe tragedy which claimed the lives of his daughter and three friends was has been fined £600 and banned from driving for six months.
Inverness Sheriff Court heard that Garry Mackay, (37), from Muir of Ord was not seeking to blame the tragic events of his recent past for failing to give a breath test after police suspected him of drink-driving.
Mackay gave an initial positive test when he was first approached by officers on Castle Street in Inverness, but later refused to co-operate at the police station, telling officers that he was scared.
Mackay, of Fairways Avenue, had earlier admitted refusing to provide samples of breath at Burnett Road police station on April 18, last year.
Sentence was deferred until yesterday for criminal justice social work reports.
Solicitor Marc Dickson told Sheriff David Sutherland: "He accepts he has no-one to blame but himself and was not seeking to blame his recent past, although it’s hard to ignore the tragedy in his recent history.
"His employment is beneficial. It is something he enjoys and he appreciates being able to provide for his family."
Mackay was a delivery driver at the time of the offence. Mr Dickson said he had been working in a different capacity for his employers since then.
The solicitor had told the first hearing that it was important the court was made aware of Mackay’s background and the horror which unfolded two years ago.
What was supposed to have been a fun day out for two families at Loch Gairloch on August 26, 2012, ended in one of the worst tragedies in recent times in Scottish waters.
Mackay and his elder daughter Callie managed to swim to shore. But his friend Ewen Beaton from Resaurie near Beauly, and his two sons Ewen (5) and Jamie (2) all drowned. Mackay’s five year-old daughter Gracie later died at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow.
Mr Dickson told the earlier court that since the accident Mackay had struggled with life, suffered depression and has received psychiatric counselling.
