Angry driver was texting just before death crash in Coupar Angus
A MAN who suspected his partner was cheating mounted the pavement as he sped home to confront her and killed a two-year-old girl, a court heard yesterday.
Perth Airport worker Luke Pirie had been calling and sending angry texts to his girlfriend in the minutes before the 50mph crash in Coupar Angus, Perthshire, last October.
His Ford Focus was captured speeding behind a line of traffic minutes before it hit little Harlow Edwards as she was pushed along in her pram.
A girl aged 17 and a six-year-old boy were injured in the accident, just yards from their home, when the impact threw them over a wall.
Pirie, 23, of Forfar, Angus, who had collided with a Citroen as it attempted a turn, yesterday pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard Pirie was worked-up and angry as he left his work at New Scone, near Perth, to drive to his partner’s house in Montrose.
He initially tried to blame the victims for the accident, telling witnesses: “They stepped out in front of me.”
But Advocate Depute Iain McSporran QC said Pirie was seen speeding through Coupar Angus and had used his mobile for calls, texts and a Facetime before the crash.
He said Pirie lost control of his car which spun and mounted the pavement where the children were walking after getting off a bus from Dundee.
Harlow suffered multiple severe injuries while the 17-year-old had bleeding on the brain and a spinal fracture which left her in a wheelchair for three months.
The other child suffered a skull fracture and permanent scarring in the tragedy.
Defence lawyer Mark Stewart QC said Pirie wrongly believed he was seeing a stationary line of traffic when he tried to overtake.
A victim impact statement from Harlow’s mother, Sara, 36, was read to the court in which she said she had been robbed of a lifetime of memories.
Mrs Edwards said she cries herself to sleep every night and now expects bad news every time the telephone rings.
The statement continued: “She feels robbed of a lifetime of memories and she cannot put into words to exactly convey the grief that she is currently suffering.”
She and her husband, Steve, have set up a charity in her memory following the toddler’s death, which took place just yards from her home.
Pirie was remanded in custody and will be sentenced next month.
Addressing Pirie, Judge Lord Ericht said: “Because of what you did Harlow will never return home.”