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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Drivers admit fatal crash charges | Drivers admit fatal crash charges |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Three young drivers have appeared at the High Court in Glasgow in connection with a seven-vehicle crash near Dumfries in which three people died. | Three young drivers have appeared at the High Court in Glasgow in connection with a seven-vehicle crash near Dumfries in which three people died. |
| Stuart Logue, 19, and Graham Lynn, 21, pleaded guilty to causing the deaths by dangerous driving in November 2006. | |
| Shaun Marshall, 18, admitted a reduced charge of dangerous driving. | Shaun Marshall, 18, admitted a reduced charge of dangerous driving. |
| Bethany Secker, 21, from Bristol, and teenagers Mark Johnston and Luke Shearman, from Dumfries, all died in the A75 crash. Sentence was deferred. | Bethany Secker, 21, from Bristol, and teenagers Mark Johnston and Luke Shearman, from Dumfries, all died in the A75 crash. Sentence was deferred. |
| The incident took place on 5 November 2006 at a stretch of road known as The Glen. | |
| When are young men going to realise that motor vehicles are not toys, but potentially lethal weapons? Rita Rae QC | When are young men going to realise that motor vehicles are not toys, but potentially lethal weapons? Rita Rae QC |
| The two victims from Dumfries were in the car driven by Logue, who lost control of the vehicle. | |
| The court heard his car - which was travelling at 89mph - went head-on into an oncoming car driven by Ms Secker, killing her and seriously injuring her passenger. | The court heard his car - which was travelling at 89mph - went head-on into an oncoming car driven by Ms Secker, killing her and seriously injuring her passenger. |
| Lynn's car then struck Logue's while Marshall lost control and smashed his car into a crash barrier. | Lynn's car then struck Logue's while Marshall lost control and smashed his car into a crash barrier. |
| Temporary judge Rita Rae QC said the crash had not been an accident but was the result of a deliberate decision by the three accused - who are all from Dumfries - to race each other. | Temporary judge Rita Rae QC said the crash had not been an accident but was the result of a deliberate decision by the three accused - who are all from Dumfries - to race each other. |
| "When are young men going to realise that motor vehicles are not toys, but potentially lethal weapons?" she said. | "When are young men going to realise that motor vehicles are not toys, but potentially lethal weapons?" she said. |
| Luke Shearman, Bethany Secker and Mark Johnston died in the crash | |
| "This is the tragic consequence of those who treat driving as a game." | "This is the tragic consequence of those who treat driving as a game." |
| She banned all three from driving and sentences were deferred until 18 March. | She banned all three from driving and sentences were deferred until 18 March. |
| Logue and Lynn were detained in custody. | Logue and Lynn were detained in custody. |
| Counsel for the three drivers will give their pleas in mitigation next month. | |
| A spokesman for Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary said the case had been one of the worst they had ever had to deal with. | |
| He said that after the collision vehicle debris was strewn across all three lanes of the carriageway. | |
| 'Irresponsible driving' | |
| "The engines were ripped from both Stuart Logue's car and Bethany Secker's car as a result of the Renault Megane motor car driven by Logue colliding head on with the Fiat Punto driven by Bethany Secker," he said. | |
| "The impact was so great that the engine from Logue's car flew over the top of a roadside barrier and landed in the wooded area on the north side of the road, a distance of over 25 metres from the collision." | |
| He said all three motorists were guilty of "the kind of irresponsible driving that puts innocent people's safety at risk". | |
| "Driving of this appalling standard will not be tolerated in Dumfries and Galloway," he added. |