A former actor has been jailed for 12 months after Liverpool Crown Court heard that he was peeling an orange and listening to music on headphones when he ran over a 65-year-old cyclist while driving a bus. Ashley McKechnie, who played Kevin Taylor in Brookside in 2000, admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
The Liverpool Echo reports that McKechnie hit John Foster on Wood Lane in Netherley at around 8.30am on December 20 2014, the collision resulting in multiple fractures to Foster’s skull, face and spine, as well as a brain haemorrhage and temporary paralysis.
Foster was cycling to work at Speke Retail Park when he was hit. Simon Duncan, prosecuting, said he was heading in the same direction as the bus, the front near side of which struck him. McKechnie told police that he had seen the cyclist and believed he had left enough room.
Foster still requires a walking stick and a wheelchair for long journeys. He has also suffered short term memory loss and anxiety and struggles to complete everyday tasks.
Judge Alan Conrad, QC, said:
“It was your responsibility to drive safely, to ensure the safety of your passengers and other road users. Mr Foster was an active man of 65. You caused him devastating and life-changing injuries.
“The accident was due to driving which created a significant risk of danger because of two avoidable distractions created by you.
“Firstly, listening to music through headphones, which may have meant you weren’t aware of proximity sensors on your vehicle, and secondly, eating a piece of fruit.
“Those distractions caused you to collide with Mr Foster and run him over. The injuries are nothing short of catastrophic.”
McKechnie, 31, had a previous conviction for driving without due care and attention and also breached his bail by refusing to co-operate so that a pre-sentence report could be prepared.
He has since become a Royal Navy chef and Ian Harris, defending, said he had “worked phenomenally” to reach his position and wanted “to devote his life to our security and safety.”
Harris said his client pleaded guilty as soon as he saw CCTV footage of the incident and urged the judge to impose a suspended sentence so he would not be thrown out of the navy. “When I showed him the DVD in conference he broke down in tears.”
Judge Conrad accepted that McKechnie’s remorse was genuine, but jailed him for the “horrific” accident and banned him from the road for 19 months.