SENTENCING STATEMENTS

Upon sentencing, Sheriff Ralph made the following remarks:

"Wendy Pullar, you have pled guilty to a contravention of s.2B of the Road Traffic Act. That is a charge of causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving. What that means is that your careless actions on the 20^th April 2025 caused the death of Neil Black.

"Neil Black was 68 years of age at the time of his death. He had much still to look forward to in life. He had found love again and was engaged to be married. He was a father of four children and a grandfather of 11. He was involved in all of their lives from taking his grandchildren to school to daily help, both physical and emotional, for his children. He was clearly a much loved man who was always ready to help those in need, but always his family was the most important priority in his life. His death occurred on Easter Sunday last year, after he had just left the arms of his family who had gathered at the house of one of his daughters. The house was just a mile from the accident site and when word of the tragedy reached them some attended the scene and saw the aftermath. It is clear that his death and the manner of his passing has had a profound effect on his family. After the premature death of his wife he had devoted himself to raising his children and putting them first in his life. The extent of their loss is evident from the measured and dignified victim impact statements provided to the court, that speak eloquently of just how much he was loved and relied on for love, support advice and humour by those around him and that he is missed every day.

"In approaching sentencing in this case. Let me first state at the outset of the sentencing process that no size of penalty can adequately reflect or compensate for the loss suffered from this tragic incident. Neil Black ought reasonably to have been able to assume that he was safe to proceed on his motorcycle that day, as he had done countless times before. It is difficult to comprehend the devastation that all who knew him must have felt on learning of the distressing circumstances of his death.

"I have considered the sentencing guidelines produced by the Scottish Sentencing Council contained in the Statutory Offences of Causing Death by Driving guideline, and I see no reasons to depart from that guidance.

"In applying the sentencing guideline to this case I have taken account of all the submissions made on your behalf. I consider that the seriousness of the offence here falls into a Level B offence – that is careless driving that arises from more than momentary inattention but is not driving that falls just short of dangerous driving.

"In reaching that conclusion I have had regard to the following matters. That it is accepted that at the mouth of the junction you would have had an unobstructed view to your right hand side of Mr. Black approaching on his motor cycle. But you did not see him, and from the information available it appears that he was only around 20 meters from your vehicle when you started your turn. What that means is that, for reasons that are unknown, you failed to take proper account of all that was happening on the road around you, even your peripheral vision for a motor cycle and rider not that far away from you has failed you on this occasion. Rule 172 of the Highway Code states that you MUST give way to traffic on the main road when emerging from a junction with broken white lines. You performed a turn when it was simply not safe to carry out the manoeuvre. This is a sufficiently fundamental error that I consider it places the offence within the Level B category.

"Having established that the offence falls within a Level B, the sentencing guidelines then state that the appropriate sentence is a Level 2 community payback order.

"I am next required to select the headline sentence which is appropriate for this offence. In order to do that I am required to balance aggravating factors, such as the fact that Mr. Black was a vulnerable road user against mitigating factors such as your lack of a criminal record, your appropriate actions to assist at the scene, your expressions of remorse and your acceptance of responsibility in your plea and through your agent. It is also plain to see the effect that the offence has had on your mental health, your personality and your day to day life all of which is reflected in the Social Work Report and the eloquent testimonials produced on your behalf. They speak to the change in your character which this tragedy has brought about.

"As a result, I have arrived at a headline sentence in this case of 120 hrs of unpaid work which will be modified, as a result of your plea, to a period of 80 hours. I note what is said in the Report about the flexibility in approach to such an order and so the time required to complete the order will be nine months.

"I also require to disqualify you from driving. The period I have selected is a headline disqualification of 18 months which will be modified for your plea to a period of 12 months.

"It is to be hoped that all parties to this case can find some degree of closure with the conclusion of these proceedings."

4 September 2026