A banned motorist who killed a pensioner in a horror hit-and-run incident last summer has been jailed for seven years and four months and disqualified for life.
Steven Starrs was riding a stolen motorcycle aggressively and at speed when he struck William Brown, 81, as he was making his way to his local bowling club using a walking frame.
Mr Brown, a retired school janitor, suffered fatal injuries in the crash in Blackburn, in West Lothian, on July 12 last year.
Starrs fled the scene but was found by police three days later at a friend’s home in nearby Whitburn, hiding under a pile of clothes in a bedroom.
A judge told the 38-year-old at the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday that Mr Brown, an RAF veteran, had been on his way to ‘a place that meant a lot to him and where he would be among his many friends’.
Lady Ross said that in his role as a school janitor he had been ‘loved and respected by both pupils and teachers’ and spent part of his earlier life in the RAF serving his country.
She told Starrs: ‘You were driving aggressively and with a complete disregard for the welfare of anyone else. You ran away from the scene and that was cowardly.’
The judge told Starrs, who has never passed a driving test and whose provisional licence expired eight years ago, that his criminal record was ‘appalling’.
RAF veteran William Brown, 81, was on his way to a local bowling club when he was mown down by Starrs
He was first convicted of driving offences when he was aged 16 and has been banned from driving six times as well as amassing convictions for crimes of dishonesty, drugs offences and possession of firearms.
Lady Ross disqualified him from driving indefinitely and said: ‘You are a clear danger to other road users.’
Starrs earlier admitted causing the death of the OAP by driving at excessive speed in a residential area, failing to keep proper observations of the road ahead and to take evasive action.
He also pled guilty to driving while disqualified on July 12 last year in Blackburn and two days later at roads in Whitburn when he was at the wheel of a car.
Advocate depute Alex Prentice KC said at the time of his death father-of-two Mr Brown was living on his own, following the death of his long term partner.
He said: ‘Mr Brown loved bowling but had to give up playing the sport due to his health, however he carried on as a social member and loved to meet his friends at the bowling club.’
The prosecutor added: ‘His final job prior to retiring was as a school janitor. He was loved and respected by pupils and teachers alike. Mr Brown was well known in the community and is greatly missed by everyone.’
The court heard that Starrs was riding a stolen, orange motocross style motorbike when he struck the pensioner who was knocked to the ground and fatally injured.
High Court in Edinburgh on Royal Mile
Crash scene investigators calculated that he had been travelling at 50mph when he hit the vulnerable victim as he crossed the road in an area where a 30mph speed limit applied.
Starrs ran off from the scene and got into the back of a black Range Rover before he was driven away from the area.
Mr Prentice told the court the victim had sustained significant head trauma and other serious injuries and despite the best efforts of the medics did not survive.
Starrs was eventually traced to an associate’s address after he was spotted at a petrol station and officers found him hiding in a bedroom.
The prosecutor said that Starrs’ criminal record began when he was a teenager and he has amassed convictions for driving without a licence, without insurance, dangerous driving, drug driving and stealing vehicles. He was previously jailed for drug supply and firearms charges.
Lady Ross told Starrs: ‘I understand you have expressed some remorse for what has happened although that comes at a relatively late stage.’
The judge told him that if he was convicted of causing the death of Mr Brown by dangerous driving after a trial she would have jailed him for 10 years.
She said: ‘The sentence cannot measure the value of Mr Brown’s life. No sentence can do that.’
