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<\/p>\nA FORMER footballer who "calmly" lit a cigarette and "took off" leaving a man to die after hitting him with a van is facing jail.<\/p>\n
Craig Smart, 44, a former striker with Montrose FC, who was driving his employers' white Ford Transit van, collided with army veteran Dave McArthur on the zebra crossing in Cardenden, Fife.<\/p>\n
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Dad-of-two McArthur, 43, who worked to help people with addictions, was using the zebra to go to a Tesco Express on Station Road in the town.<\/p>\n
He was thrown 9.62 metres, landing on the pavement with such a severe head injury that he died in hospital two days later.<\/p>\n
An eye witness described Smart's van doing "excessive speed" – though police estimated 20 to 27 mph – before "a loud bang".<\/p>\n
Passers-by and Tesco staff called the emergency services and rushed to the aid of Mr McArthur who was lying in a pool of blood.<\/p>\n
Smart got out and phoned his girlfriend saying: "I've hit someone".<\/p>\n
A female voice replied: "Don't run".<\/p>\n
But after just eight-and-a-half minutes, without waiting for the emergency services, Smart got back in his van and "took off".<\/p>\n
He abandoned it nearly four miles away in Kirkcaldy, the High Court in Stirling was told.<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Scaffolder Andrew Tullis, 41, said he put Mr McArthur in the recovery position and was using a T-shirt to staunch his bleeding when he heard the van leave, so asked his brother, also at the scene, to follow it and get its number.<\/p>\n Former care worker Agnes Smith, 63, who'd stopped and brought a blanket and a cushion for Mr McArthur, said she came face-to-face with Smart.<\/p>\n She described him as "very calm… too calm".<\/p>\n She said: "His eyes were big.<\/p>\n "It was as if he was on something, but I didn't smell drink.<\/p>\n "He lit up a cigarette, then he was away."<\/p>\n Mrs Smith said Mr McArthur's mother then came across the road, and realised the man hit was her son.<\/p>\n The incident occurred about 8.04 pm on November 28th 2019.<\/p>\n Police collision investigator Paul McPherson said Smart had "failed to observe, or react to, Mr McArthur on the zebra".<\/p>\n He said it was possible his "attention had been distracted" by a passing car.<\/p>\n In evidence, father-of-three Smart, a floor layer, said that the first time he became aware that anyone was on the crossing was when he heard the collision.<\/p>\n Suggesting Mr McArthur might have "run" across the zebra, he said: "I think there's no way he could have walked across the crossing and me not seen him.<\/p>\n "For the last three-and-a-half years I've gone through it in my head every day.<\/p>\n "He was there in an instant."<\/p>\n He said he "appreciated" that driving off afterwards was "a terrible decision".<\/p>\n He added: "It was the worst decision I have made in my life."<\/p>\n He stayed the night with a friend rather than at his own home and handed himself into police the next day.<\/p>\n It was too late for officers to check if he had been under the influence at the time.<\/p>\n But he insisted, in answer to questioning by prosecutor Derick Nelson, he had "no reason to lie low".<\/p>\n After a four day trial, a jury of eight men and seven women found Smart guilty of causing Mr McArthur's death by careless driving.\u00a0<\/p>\n The prosecution had sought a conviction for causing his death by dangerous driving but after deliberating for nearly an hour the jury opted to convict of the less serious charge.<\/p>\n A charge being unfit to drive through drink or drugs at the time of the accident was withdrawn by the prosecution.\u00a0<\/p>\n Smart was found guilty of attempting to pervert the course of justice by leaving the scene and turning off his phone in a bid to prevent arrest and assessment of his capability to drive.<\/p>\n Judge Lord Scott deferred sentence until March 29th at the High Court in Aberdeen for background reports, and disqualified Smart from driving with immediate effect.<\/p>\n He continued bail, but warned Smart: "The charges are still serious.<\/p>\n "At the moment a custodial sentence is uppermost in my mind."<\/p>\n Smart's counsel, Ronnie Renucci KC, reserved mitigation.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/VP-COMP-STEPHEN-v5.jpg\")
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