Driver who fell asleep and killed pedestrian jailed for five years

A driver who killed a man after falling asleep at the wheel and mounting the kerb has been jailed for five years.

Scott Nugent, 42, had just finished a 13-hour shift as a fabricator when the incident happened on Hawkhead Road in Paisley on the morning of 18 September 2024.

Stephen Craig, 50, and Craig McDermott, 40, were walking on the pavement when they were both struck from behind. Stephen Craig, from Coatbridge, died four days later.

The High Court in Glasgow heard that Nugent failed to negotiate a bend, having nodded off while driving his Peugeot 208. He pled guilty to a charge of causing death and serious injury by dangerous driving.

Craig was knocked into the forecourt of a nearby petrol station with McDermott initially ending up on the bonnet of the vehicle, before the car eventually stopped after hitting a bus stop.

McDermott suffered life-changing injuries as a result.

Prosecutor David Dickson said Nugent later indicated he had worked a night shift and must have fallen asleep.

No defects were found with the Peugeot or the road and there was no evidence Nugent had been using a phone at the time.

Judge Lord Arthurson told Nugent his actions had inflicted carnage. The court also heard how Nugent, from East Kilbride, had said he wished he had died that day rather than his victim.

Lord Arthurson said: "Two men were making their way to their employment and walking on a pavement - a full, long healthy future lay ahead.

"Behind them, without warning, these men were mowed down by a vehicle, without braking, that mounted the pavement, drove dangerously and collided in a way which caused catastrophic injuries.

"You had worked three night shifts. That morning you fell asleep and inflicted the carnage which continues to envelop the families of the victims and Mr McDermott himself.

"I have a read a heart rendering victim impact statement which came from the grieving widow and no sentence this court can impose will be anywhere near adequate in their eyes."

The judge said Nugent had accepted responsibility for his actions and expressed genuine remorse.

"You have expressed most powerfully that you wish you had died or were seriously injured rather than the victims but on that day you took one man's life and family's future and inflicted life-changing injuries upon another," he said.

"You will walk out of prison to a future life - Mr Craig can never do that. Mr McDermott's life has changed for ever due to your behaviour."

The judge disqualified Nugent from driving for a period of six-and-a-half years.

John Scullion KC, defending, earlier told the sentencing there was little he could say in mitigation about the accident and that Nugent accepted custody was inevitable.

He said: "Information suggests that he will live for the rest of his life with the serious injury of Mr McDermott and the death of Mr Craig in his conscience as he should."

Craig's family paid tribute to him after his passing.

"Stephen was a devoted husband and father. His loss has been devastating for all who knew him," they said.