A DRIVER who mounted the pavement and killed a two-year-old girl has been jailed for six years.
Luke Pirie had been texting moments before striking Harlow Edwards and two other children aged six and 17 as they walked along the pavement in Coupar, Angus last October.
The toddler died instantly and the others, who were thrown over a roadside wall, suffered serious injuries.
Yesterday Sara’s mother Harlow said the loss of their “darling baby girl” means the family is serving a life sentence.
Outside the High Court in Glasgow, she said: “We can only hope our baby girl’s beautiful face will serve as a reminder of the responsibility that comes with getting behind the wheel of a car.”
Pirie, who admitted death by dangerous driving at the High Court in Edinburgh last month, was also given a seven-year road ban and must sit an extended test if he wants to drive again on release.
The Forfar man had passed his test just a year before the incident and was said to be “worked up” and angry as he left his work at Scone Airport, near Perth, to travel to his partner’s house in Montrose on the day of the crash.
Defence lawyer Mark Stewart QC said his client, who was travelling at 50mph, feels “severe regret”.
Judge Lord Ericht told Pirie: “You have shattered the life of a family. For them nothing will ever be the same.
“You indulged in a prolonged, persistent and deliberate course of very bad driving.
“You sent and read images and text messages. You were engaged in activity on a mobile phone that required you to give attention to the device.”
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