Family of road crash victim praised for their 'magnanimous statements' as teen JCB telehandler driver sentenced

As Judge Donna McColgan KC sentenced 23-year-old Stuart Gardiner at Craigavon Crown Court the ex-wife and relatives of victim David Edwards looked on by videolink as the judge praised their “magnanimous statements.”

“This court wishes to express its most sincere condolences and sympathy to the family of David Edwards,” said the judge at the outset of her sentencing remarks, adding that Mr Edwards’ grieving sisters had written that “although we were devastated by David's death and we still miss him every day, we have never sought to apportion blame for what we have always considered to be a tragic accident.”

His ex-wife and mother of Mr Edwards’ daughter had written how his death meant their daughter has missed out the opportunity to develop a relationship with her dad but that they “understand that the defendant did not set out with the intention of killing anyone and they understand that it was a tragic accident.”

At an earlier hearing when he was first arraigned Gardiner, from Beech Meadows in Waringstown, entered a gully plea to causing the death of Mr Edwards by driving carelessly on the Lany Road in Moira on 3 April 2021.

Gardiner, who was 19-years-old at the time, was driving a JCB telehandler and was turning right into a field when he turned into the path of Mr Edwards’ Ducati motorbike and it collided with the large agricultural vehicle.

Describing how Mr. Edwards was “pinned beneath his motorcycle,” Judge McColgan said it was accepted that Gardiner had been the first person to call 999 but tragically, despite efforts by paramedics and a doctor at the scene to resuscitate the 60-year-old, he was sadly pronounced dead that afternoon.

Police spoke to Gardiner at the side of the road and he accepted he had been driving and was trying to turn right into a field when the collision occurred but he maintained that “he had checked his mirrors.”

During police interviews conducted Gardiner again stated that he had checked his mirrors and had looked over his shoulder but Judge McColgan said there was now agreement between the defence and prosecution that Gardiner’s mirrors were not properly adjusted.

“The defendant accepts the served engineering evidence that his front offside mirror and interior mirror were not properly adjusted and that this would have impaired his view of the road behind him by extension,” said the judge outlining that in the unadjusted position, Gardiner would have had “one to 1.5 seconds” to see the bike before impact.

If Gardiner had seen the Ducati with Mr Edwards on board “he wouldn't have attempted the manoeuvre” and Judge McColgan said it was further “accepted by prosecution and defence that his culpability lies in failing to adjust the mirror properly prior to driving and in his failure to check that the road was safe before attempting to turn right.”

There were no other aggravating features, the judge told the court, while defence counsel Damien Halleron contended that in mitigation Gardiner had accepted his guilt, has expressed “remorse and insight” as to the devastating consequences, has a clear record and has worked continually since he left Greenmount Agricultural College.

Gardiner “has stated that there isn't a day that goes past when he doesn't think about the impact of his offending,” said Mr Halleron who lamented that fact that sadly, “there is nothing that any one can do to bring back the life of the deceased - his family has suffered the devastating loss of a loved one who has died many years before his time.”

Turning to the sentence to be imposed, Judge McColgan emphasised “a human life cannot be restored nor its loss be measured by the length of a prison sentence.”

“We recognise that no term of months or years imposed on the offender and reconcile the family of a deceased victim to their loss, nor will it cure their anguish.”

She told Gardiner “in view of your background and in view of everything that I have read and considered on your behalf, and also by virtue of the very generous approach taken by the family of the deceased, I've decided that a custodial sentence would serve no useful purpose whatever.”

Instead, she imposed a combination order of 80 hours community service and two years on probation and while the judge conceded that Gardiner “may not need probation in the normal sense of the kind of courses that probation tend to offer, it may well be they are able to offer you some assistance with the grief and loss and obvious emotional issues that you have been experiencing over this last number of years.”

In addition to the combination order, Gardiner was also banned from driving for two years.