A High Court judge has warned a Dundee teenager who smashed a car into a couple walking home on New Year’s morning that he would be “severely dealt with.”
Jamie Dolan (17), of Brown Constable Street, admitted losing control of the speeding car in Arbroath Road seconds before the fatal collision.
The car hit Carrie Cumming (23) and her boyfriend Scott Ramsay (24) as they waited at a gap in the metal railings opposite Baxter Park.
Carrie was pronounced dead at the scene and her boyfriend has endured months of operations since.
Judge Lady Smith said that in light of Dolan’s age and the fact he had no previous convictions, background reports would be required.
She told the teenager on Thursday, “All I would say at this stage is that the offences to which you have pleaded guilty, in particular the offence of causing death by dangerous driving, is an extremely serious matter, make no mistake about that.”
She said the court took a serious view of such offences and told Dolan, “You can expect to be severely dealt with when you come back before me.”
Sentence was deferred to September 17 at the High Court in Edinburgh and Dolan was remanded in custody
He had admitted driving dangerously while drunk at speeds of up to 60mph in a 30mph zone.
As he approached a line of vehicles parked on the bend past the Dalkeith Road junction he lost control, colliding with the parked cars and a traffic island at the bend by Baxter Park.Couple struckThe Ford Mondeo he was driving scraped along the retaining wall and buckled the metal fence at the side of the road until it hit Caroline Cumming and Scott Ramsay.
Caroline, known as Carrie, was struck first and thrown into her boyfriend.
Scott was thrown into a nearby garden and Carrie was thrown a distance of 28 metres (92 feet) before she came to rest.
Dolan admitted causing the death of Caroline Cumming at a time when he was driving without a licence or insurance and at a time when she was fatally injured he failed to stop.
Lady Smith was told the guilty pleas had been notified to the Crown on August 6.
Pleas of not guilty by Dolan to taking and driving away the car and driving it between Denhead of Gray and Ballindean Road with excess alcohol were accepted by the Crown.
The Crown also accepted a plea of not guilty to driving dangerously while under the influence of alcohol and drugs, repeatedly drinking from a bottle of vodka while driving the car, driving it at excessive speed causing the wheels to spin by accelerating harshly and colliding with a parked car in Ballindean Road.
A plea of not guilty to failing to report the accident was also accepted.
Advocate depute John Scullion said one resident at the flats beside Arbroath Road looked out and saw a hooded figure emerge from the crashed car and run from the scene.Vodka”The accused was carrying two bottles of vodka as he ran,” Mr Scullion said.
“A police dog handler and tracker dog were called.”
The dog was put into the crashed car and from there began a track which led to Dolan’s home.
“Police officers found the accused at his home,” Mr Scullion told the court.
“He was wearing a blue jumper and a pale blue hooded top.
“The jumper contained fragments of glass which forensic analysis confirmed matched a control sample taken from the shattered windscreen of the Mondeo.”
The advocate depute said Dolan had been at a New Year’s Eve party at Denhead of Gray on the outskirts of Dundee.
“Shortly after 5am the accused left the party in the company of Christopher Ferrara,” he said.
“The accused and Christopher Ferrara were drunk.”
The car was taken from Denhead of Gray to Ballindean Road, where Ferrara got out of the car, leaving Dolan behind.
Dolan then drove off towards Arbroath Road and the fateful collision.Cold weatherMr Scullion said, “It was still dark but the street lighting was lit and visibility was good.
“The weather was fair and the road surface damp.
“The temperature was close to freezing but while there were areas of snow and ice at the road edge and on footpaths, the main road surface was clear of ice and snow and had been gritted.”
A scuff mark in the snow and ice marked the beginning of the skid.
After the collision with the barrier the Mondeo began to spin anti-clockwise until it came to rest.
The collision and damage caused the driver’s door to jam.
“A taxi driver, who was driving in the opposite direction, noticed the young couple as he passed the junction,” Mr Scullion told the court.
“He looked in his wing mirrors as he passed the Mondeo and realised there had been a collision.
“As soon as he could safely return he returned to the scene.”First aidResidents and passers-by tried to help the taxi driver give first aid to Carrie Cumming and Scott Ramsay while others called the emergency services.
Dolan admitted to police after he was arrested that he did not have a driving licence and that he had been driving the Mondeo when it crashed.
He confirmed that he had been driving at 60mph and had seen people immediately before losing control of the car, “but didn’t think he’d done anything to them.”
The advocate depute said he also admitted running away from the collision.
Over two-and-a-half hours later at police headquarters Dolan was breathalysed and gave a reading of 67 mics almost twice the legal limit.
A scientist calculated that the teenager’s breath alcohol at the time of the collision would have been approximately 88 mics.
Carrie Cumming suffered multiple injuries, including fractures to her legs, pelvis and spine, consistent with the blunt force trauma of being struck by a car.
Scott Ramsay was taken to accident and emergency at Ninewells Hospital, where a severe wound to his left leg was internally fixed and an external fixing device was then applied to stabilise his knee.
He had also suffered a ruptured bladder and fractured jaw which required surgery.Intensive careHe spent four days in intensive care and was eventually discharged from hospital six weeks later.
Mr Ramsay who is now staying with his parents in Forfar required skin grafts and still has a splint on his left foot which could be permanent.
He is waiting for an operation to insert an artificial cap in his left knee.
The advocate depute said, “Emotionally, Mr Ramsay describes himself as having good days and bad days.”
Interviewed last week, he said the bad days were not as frequent and he now has more good days.
At the time of the collision he was working as a sales assistant but has not been able to return to work.
Mr Scullion said, “He describes his mobility as restricted. He cannot walk any distance.
“He holds a driving licence but is unable to drive.”
He told the court that Carrie Cumming spent the previous evening working in the Kage nightclub before staying on for a party with her boyfriend in the club after it closed.
They left there shortly after 6am with friends and went to first foot a nearby party.
Mr Scullion said, “However, after spending only a brief time at the party the couple decided to leave and walk home.”
Judge Lady Smith was shown photographs of the scene, with the damaged Mondeo still in Arbroath Road.
A blue tent marked the area where Miss Cumming had been thrown.
She was also given victim impact statements from Carrie Cumming’s brother Chris (26) and her mother and father, Steve and Val.
A statement from Scott Ramsay on the impact events had had on him was also provided to the judge.
Solicitor advocate Chris Fyffe, for Dolan, said his client did not disagree with anything the Crown said “in any way, shape or form.”
Mr Fyffe said, “He takes full responsibility for his actions on this tragic occasion.”