Hire driver facing jail after killing grandmother in horror car smash

A dangerous driver is facing years in jail after he was convicted of killing a grandmother in a horror head-on smash while she was on a Mother's Day weekend trip with her family.
Jar had two previous convictions for speeding and had eight points on his licence at the time of the incident. Picture: contributedJar had two previous convictions for speeding and had eight points on his licence at the time of the incident. Picture: contributed
Jar had two previous convictions for speeding and had eight points on his licence at the time of the incident. Picture: contributed

Alin Jar, 31, was working as a driver for a car hire firm when the Vauxhall Meriva he was driving ploughed into a Renault Megane carrying 57-year-old Jamesina Stewart on the A90 in Aberdeenshire in March 2016. Mrs Stewart was killed at the scene while her daughter Amanda Todd suffered horrific injuries.

Jar had two previous convictions for speeding and had eight points on his licence at the time of the incident.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Prosecutors alleged the Aberdeen man drove while under the influence of morphine. The court heard he was found with the drug in his bloodstream hours after the crash.

A jury yesterday found Jar unanimously guilty of causing death by dangerous driving, but removed the allegation he had driven while under the influence of morphine.

A judge told Jar that victim impact statements produced in the case made it clear his actions had been “devastating” for Mrs Stewart’s family.

The trial at the High Court in Aberdeen heard Jar was working as a driver for a car hire firm when the crash happened. Grandmother Mrs Stewart, 57, from Elgin in Moray, was killed at the scene following a smash on the A90 road near Ellon on 5 March 2016 – the day before Mother’s Day.

Her daughter told the court she, her husband, her mother and two children had gone for a family trip to the Happy Plant Garden Centre in nearby Mintlaw.

Seconds after turning on the A90, the family saw a Vauxhall Meriva, driven by Jar, heading straight for them on the wrong side of the road.

Mrs Todd, 37, broke down in tears as she told of the moment the car ploughed into her vehicle.

She said: “I knew it was inevitable that I couldn’t brake in time. We impacted and then I was unconscious. “When I regained consciousness the children were out of the car, but my mum was still in the vehicle. “The fire crew were trying to extract me, but it took quite a long time because the car had crushed my legs and every time they tried to pull me out it kept collapsing on my legs.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and was in high dependency for three days. I have had four surgeries since.”

Mrs Todd told the court that she had suffered a broken tibia, fibia, femur and pelvis and needed to have skin grafts to close open wounds on her legs.

Judge Lord Woolman deferred sentencing until 6 June at the High Court in Glasgow and remanded Jar in custody.