A BUS driver whose dangerous driving caused the death of a football fan in a crash on the way to a match has been jailed for five years.
Ryan Baird, 39, was fatally injured when the bus carrying members of the Nith Valley Loyal Rangers Supporters’ Club to Ibrox stadium overturned on October 1 2016.
Eighteen others were injured, three seriously, when the vehicle toppled over upon approaching a roundabout on the A76 Kilmarnock to Dumfries Road.
Prosecutors said driver Callum Phillips lost control of the bus after hitting speeds of up to 73mph on a road where the limit is 50mph for buses.
The 49-year-old, from Dalbeattie in Dumfries and Galloway, was convicted by a jury of causing death and injury by dangerous driving.
Passing the five-year sentence at the High Court in Glasgow, judge Lady Stacey told Phillips his driving had fallen “far below the standard required of a careful driver”.
In a sentencing statement released following the hearing, she said: “Your driving caused the death of Ryan Baird. Nothing that this court can do or say can lessen the grief that his family and friends feel at their loss. You also caused other passengers to suffer serious injuries.”
The judge told Phillips, who has a previous conviction for speeding, that while no other vehicle was involved, he had put other road users at risk.
She added: “Of course you did not deliberately mean to endanger your passengers, but you showed a shocking lack of care in your driving.”
The judge also disqualified Phillips from driving or obtaining a licence for five years.
The court heard that Phillips has expressed “genuine remorse” to Baird’s brother and his partner, the statement reveals.
Some 37 people, including the driver, were on board the bus when the crash happened at the Crossroads roundabout at Kilmarnock.
Baird had been living in Sanquhar, Dumfries and Galloway, but was originally from Larne.
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