A viscount’s daughter-in-law has admitted causing the death of a pensioner by driving carelessly.
Emily Arbuthnott, 37, struck James Lyall while he was walking across the road in front of her car at a zebra crossing leaving him seriously injured.
She failed to slow down when her vision was temporarily blinded by the sun and collided with the 82-year-old in Inverbervie.
The mother-of-three was driving along the A92 in her black Audi A3 when the tragedy happened shortly after 3pm on November 5 2014.
Arbuthnott, who married Christopher, the son of the 17th Viscount of Arbuthnott in April 2003, admitted causing the pensioner’s death when she appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court on Tuesday.
She pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for other people using the road.
The charge states that the mother, who was stated in court papers as living at Arbuthnott House, failed to slow down or stop the vehicle when her vision was obscured by the sun and did not notice Mr Lyall as he crossed the road.
Mr Lyall was rushed to hospital in an ambulance under police escort but later died.
Arbuthnott was not injured in the crash but her car was damaged.
The mother was clearly shaken as she signed court paperwork admitting the charge.
A court official handed her a box of tissues after noticing she was close to tears.
Sentence was deferred for background reports until next month.
Her family moved into Arbuthnott House in 2011 after the historic mansion, near Laurencekirk, underwent an extensive refurbishment.
The property had issues with rising damp and the roof had to be repaired.
There were also structural problems in the south wall and the original stonework had to be rebuilt.
The Arbuthnott family have lived on the estate ever since Hugh de Swinton was granted the lands of Arbuthnott by King William the Lion in 1188.