CAR CRASH CASUALTIES


CABBIE DIED AFTER CAR CRASH WITH SPEEDING MOTORIST IN BARRHEAD - SENTENCE DEFERRED


A cabbie died after his car was struck by a speeding motorist. Edward Cullen, 55, was hit head on by Scott Gilligan, 35, on the A736, Barrhead, on June 14, 2021. Mr Cullen’s vehicle then collided with pedestrian Margaret Mansell, 60, propelling her into the air. She landed in a hedge and suffered serious injuries including fractured ribs and kidney damage. Mr Cullen had only returned to work having suffered a heart attack in October. The cabbie died from his chest injuries in Septem- ber 2021 with heart disease being a


potential contributing cause. Gilligan, of Paisley, pleaded guilty at the High Court in Glasgow to causing serious injury and death by


dangerous driving and to


driving without insurance. The court heard Mr Cullen was driving his Skoda Octavia taxi within the speed limit at the time. Prosecutor Margaret Barron said: “Witnesses behind Mr Cullen’s car saw Gilligan’s vehicle enter their lane at a bend on the road. He drove at speed, before colliding head on with Mr Cullen’s vehicle. Mr Cullen was trapped inside,


conscious and breathing. Gilligan was described as being confused and asked what had happened. He provided a negative sample for alcohol and drugs in his system. An investigation found Gilligan had driven at 69mph and straddled the white lines before the collision. No defects were found in either car. It was revealed Gilligan has seven previous convictions including a number of road traffic matters. Sentence was deferred until November and Gilligan was remanded into custody.


PLYMOUTH CABBIE RUN OFF ROAD CAUSING CRASH SUFFERS DISGRACEFUL LACK OF POLICE HELP


A taxi driver has called upon Plymouth’s motorists to help her track down a driver whose “lack of attention” is said to have led to a crash, which she says could have killed her and her passengers. Julie Pollard, 38, from Plymouth said she was taking three passengers - aged 85, 80 and 55 - to Liskeard on the morning of August 31. At around 11.30am, as she approached the Marsh Mills section of the A38, she became aware of a small silver car on her left, on the road leading down the off-slip towards the roundabout. Julie said: “I was doing 60mph in the middle lane, suddenly my passengers shouted out ‘he’s coming over!’ and I saw this small silver car and this old person driving it, sliding towards my cab. “I had nowhere to go and I started to gently brake, thinking I’d slow


PHTM NOVEMBER 2023


down and he’d miss me. Unfort- unately, the rear of the cab slipped and I went across the lane, hit the crash barrier and then went across all three lanes to hit the central barrier. “How I missed everyone else on the road I’ll never know.” As a result of the incident the passengers suffered a broken bones and were all hospitalised. Julie suffered broken ribs and bruising. She told police she had dashcam footage but was told it didn’t pick up the registration


number of the silver car. Julie said the police inquiries have come to nothing and claimed they told her they were unable to trawl through footage of cameras along the A38. However, Julie also noted that police had failed to make any public appeals or use local media to trace the driver of the silver car. She added: “At the accident scene the police had 15 minutes to clear the road. They made me pay £192 to the recovery truck there and then - they wouldn’t let me wait for my recovery with the AA saying it would take too long. “I even had to offer my name! “In the end I was left to get a bus from the A38 to hospital to meet police and the injured passengers. I just want this person found because they are still out there and might cause another crash - perhaps a fatal one next time.”


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