A Fife driver has been acquitted of causing the death of a pedestrian in Kirkcaldy.
Robert Townsley was struck by a car as he crossed the town’s Hayfield Road in March 2019.
The 57-year-old, who suffered devastating neck and head injuries, died in hospital a week later.
Motorist Ewan Mackinnon went on trial at the town’s sheriff court, accused of causing Mr Townsley’s death by careless or inconsiderate driving.
Prosecutors alleged he should have seen the pedestrian stepping on to the road sooner than he did.
After four days of evidence, jurors took just over an hour to find the charge not proven.
The verdict sparked an emotional outburst from members of Mr Townsley’s family.
Speaking after the trial, Mr Mackinnon told us there was nothing more he could have done.
‘Watch that guy!’
The accident happened just before 1am on March 3 2019.
Mr Mackinnon, 54, was driving friend George McAllister and his wife to Kirkcaldy’s Victoria Hospital from their Leslie home after she’d collapsed on the living room floor due to an anxiety attack.
Mr McAllister, who was unable to drive that night having drunk about four lagers, told the trial he was giving Mackinnon directions to the hospital from the back seat as they travelled east along Hayfield Road.
He told him to turn right at the second set of traffic lights.
The friend said: “Seconds after, I caught a glimpse of a person on the right-hand side and said ‘watch that guy, watch that guy’… and he (Mr Townsley) walked right in front of the car.
“He was just to the right of the white lines (in the opposing lane) when I saw him.
“He was one or two strides away from hitting the car.
“I thought he was stopping in the road but he just kept going.”
Driver ‘absolutely devastated’
Giving evidence under questioning from procurator fiscal depute Niall Macdonald, Mr Mackinnon said: “I touched the brake and Mr Townsley stopped in front of me and I had to swerve and he made contact with the vehicle.”
When later asked how he felt about what happened by defence advocate Louise Arrol, he added: “I’m absolutely devastated.”
Mackinnon, of Glenrothes, said he was unable to offer an explanation about why he didn’t see Mr Townsley step off the pavement.
He claimed his view of the pedestrian may have been obscured because of the chunky wing mirror and a support for his windscreen.
Mr Mackinnon was travelling at about 18-20mph in the 30mph limit.
A blood sample taken from Mr Townsley after he was admitted to hospital showed he was more than three times the legal drink-drive limit.
Pedestrian ‘distracted’
Police crash scene investigator, Sergeant Paul Ewing, told the court that he calculated Mr Townsley would have taken 2.89 seconds to reach the point of collision from when he left the pavement edge, based on him walking at 5mph.
Sergeant Ewing identified the collision point by a “scuff mark” at the scene where he believes the sole of Mr Townsley’s shoe would have scraped the ground upon impact.
With the car travelling at 20mph and a two-second driver thinking time – the court heard research suggests it is usually between one and two seconds – he calculated Mackinnon should have stopped just under three metres before the collision point had he noticed the pedestrian as he left the pavement.
Sergeant Ewing concluded in his report that as soon as the pedestrian stepped on to the road Mackinnon could have anticipated taking evasive action, slowing down and sounding the horn.
Under questioning from Ms Arrol, Sergeant Ewing also accepted that these were low margins and equated to about a third of a second.
Ms Arrol said Mr Townsley failed to undertake “due diligence” that night in crossing the carriageway as he had seven seconds to look left along an unobstructed stretch of road for about 100 metres before crossing.
The advocate also highlighted that Mr Townsley had been under the influence of alcohol, impairing judgement.
She said street lighting on the road faded in certain areas and that Mr Townsley had been wearing dark clothing against a dark background of hedges, shown in photos.
Photographs were also shown in court of Mr Townsley’s clothing that night which included a dark jacket and blue, faded jeans and dark trainers.
Ms Arrol said: “There are different elements, reasons in that split moment that may have rendered that pedestrian less visible than in ordinary circumstances.”
Reconstruction footage was also played to jurors of the drive which showed an actor wearing similar clothing stepping out into the road from a dark area.
Driver ‘sorry’ for pedestrian’s family
Following the trial, heard in front of Sheriff Alison Mackay, Mr Mackinnon referred to remarks made by a relative of Mr Townsley following the verdict.
“As you can see, his family are gutted about this and I feel really sorry for them,” he said. “But the jury made a decision.”
He added that he could not have done anything differently that night to prevent the collision.
Mr Townsley’s family declined to comment.
