A DRIVER who left a motorcyclist with life-changing injuries after knocking him from his motorbike while overtaking traffic on a county road has escaped a jail term.

Colin Mowat made the “very foolish decision” to make the overtaking manoeuvre as he drove his car on the B6369 road between Gifford and Haddington in June 2021.

Mowat, 69, struck biker Colin Richardson, causing him to fall to the ground and to suffer catastrophic injuries that have led to him being forced to give up his employment.

The motorist pleaded guilty to a charge of driving dangerously and causing Mr Richardson permanent impairment and disfigurement when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month.

Mowat, of Fishers Brae, Coldingham, Berwickshire, was back in the dock for sentencing on Monday, where he was banned from the road and handed a direct alternative to a custodial sentence.

Solicitor Iain Tweedie, representing Mowat, said that his client was a first offender and “accepted responsibility” for causing the accident; he added that Mowat had no intention of driving again due to his age.

Mr Tweedie added that an unpaid work order would prove problematic due to the remote location of Mowat’s home but that he would “have to make the necessary arrangements” if the court passed such a disposal.

'Significant injuries'

Sheriff Robert Fife said: “Not withstanding the gravity of the offence, in my view there is a direct alternative to a sentence of imprisonment.

“Clearly this was a very serious road traffic accident and a very foolish decision to overtake.

“I have read the victim impact statement and for Mr Richardson clearly it was a life-changing event for him that caused him significant injuries and led him to give up his employment.

“This plea was tendered on the day of the trial under the Road Traffic Act 1998 Section 1A and there was no defence.”

Sheriff Fife sentenced Mowat to carry out the maximum disposal of 300 hours of unpaid work in the community and banned him from driving for four years.

Mowat was also ordered to wear an electronic tagging device and to stay within his home address between 7pm and 5am each night for the next six months as part of a restriction of liberty order.

Mowat pleaded guilty to causing serious injury to Colin Richardson by driving dangerously and overtaking when it was unsafe to do so, failing to observe a motorbike and causing a collision that caused Mr Richardson to fall, causing him permanent impairment, permanent disfigurement and a danger to life, on the B6369 between Gifford and Haddington on June 13, 2021.