Biker died after being hit by two cars in A1 tragedy

Published on 21/06/2012 12:00

A MOTORCYCLIST was thrown from his bike following a collision with a Land Rover on the A1 and then hit by another car as he lay on the road, a trial has been told.

James Marlow, from Edinburgh, died after suffering severe injuries when he was struck twice by vehicles at the Ayton junction in Berwickshire on November 16, 2010.

The driver of the Land Rover, 48-year-old Michael Giacopazzi, is on trial at Jedburgh Sheriff Court, where he denies causing the death of IT worker Mr Marlow, 33, by careless driving.

A jury at Jedburgh Sheriff Court yesterday watched a DVD of a police interview in which Giacopazzi said he had just finished his shift at the Ship Hotel in Eyemouth, and was heading home at around 5pm as darkness fell.

Giacopazzi, of High Street, Eyemouth, told how he saw the light of a motorcycle approaching as he moved into a box junction to prepare to turn right across the carriageway at the Ayton junction on the A1.

The accused said he stopped his vehicle but when he could not see the light he assumed the motorcycle had turned off on the slip road.

But the court heard that when he moved off, his Land Rover Freelander was struck by the motorcycle.

Giacopazzi said he stopped his vehicle but was unable to stop another car running over Mr Marlow as he lay on the northbound carriageway.

Other witnesses have told the trial how they saw Giacopazzi, who has been driving for 30 years with no accidents, standing in the middle of the northbound carriageway trying to stop other vehicles.

The court heard that Mr Marlow had only passed his motorcycle test two months previously, but traffic police officer Neil Wilson said he had been informed that the rider had experience with off-road bikes in New Zealand and “was not a novice”.

The charge against Giacopazzi alleges he drove his vehicle into the path of a motorcycle being driven by Mr Marlow and he came to rest on the carriageway and was subsequently struck by another car to his severe injury in consequence of which he died.

The trial before Sheriff Donald Corke continues.

In the wake of his death, Mr Marlow’s friends and colleagues at ION Concept Systems took part in the Edinburgh Marathon Festival last year to raise money for national road safety charity Brake.