Driver admits he killed five in crash

THE sole survivor of a horrific road accident yesterday admitted his dangerous driving had caused the deaths of five people.

Ewan Macpherson, 21, tried to overtake late at night on the approach to a blind summit, and his Vauxhall Corsa hit a car travelling in the opposite direction.

His passengers, Tanya Webster and Donna Miller, both 19, were killed instantly, and the Corsa burst into flames. DNA identification was needed to distinguish the bodies. Macpherson was dragged, badly burned, from the wreckage.

William and Allison Melville, and their son, William jnr, were in the other vehicle. Mrs Melville, 60, and William jnr, 33, both Scottish karate internationalists, died at the scene. William snr, 67, who had been driving, was taken unconscious to hospital, but died a short time later.

At the High Court in Edinburgh, yesterday, a judge told Macpherson, of Auchterarder, Perthshire, it was "almost inevitable" he would be jailed when he returned to be sentenced next month.

Lord Brailsford said: "It is difficult to imagine a more tragic case for members of the families of the deceased, for whom the court has enormous sympathy. While you were the cause of that tragedy, equally the case is tragic in its consequences for you."

Macpherson, a sales assistant, pleaded guilty to causing the five deaths by driving dangerously on 27 January last year on the A85 Perth-Crieff road, about a mile west of the junction leading to Keillour.

The Melville family had been at a karate camp in Crieff and were returning to their home in Methven, near Perth. Mrs Melville, a lollipop woman at the village primary school, was made an MBE in 2002.

Alan Mackay, prosecuting, told the court that Macpherson, who stayed with his parents and was a first offender, had been driving towards Crieff, where Ms Webster and Ms Miller lived.

At about 11:15pm, a motorist became aware of Macpherson's Corsa approaching from behind as she overtook a third car. The road had a 60mph limit, and she pulled back into her own lane and was travelling at between 60mph and 65mph when she was overtaken by Macpherson just before the brow of a hill.

The Corsa remained on the wrong side of the road and collided head-on with Mr Melville's Honda Civic.

"Prior to the blind crest, there is a solid white line, which prohibits vehicles travelling west towards Crieff from crossing on to the eastbound carriageway," Mr Mackay said. "As a result of the impact, the Corsa left the road and rolled on to its roof. The engine ignited, enveloping the front of the vehicle in flames. The three occupants were trapped. The Honda slewed round and came to rest. Again, the occupants were trapped."

A number of people stopped and tried to help. One, a nurse, assessed Mrs Melville and her son as dead, but Mr Melville, while unconscious, was still alive.

Macpherson was pulled from the flaming wreckage with his legs alight, but, because of the fire, it was impossible to reach the bodies of Ms Webster and Ms Miller on the back seat.

Macpherson, who also suffered a broken arm, was in hospital for several months.