A motorist who killed a cyclist after swerving onto the other side of the road, while driving with multiple drugs in his system, has been jailed for more than six years and handed a 12-year driving ban.

40-year-old Colin McCourt was cycling home from his work as a mechanical engineer at HM Naval Base Clyde in Faslane on 10 November 2020 when he was struck head-on by motorist Scott MacKinnon on a straight section of the A814 carriageway near Cardross, Argyll and Bute.

The cyclist was thrown over the car’s bonnet and onto the pavement. He sustained serious injuries to his head and chest, as well as multiple fractures to his legs, in the collision and passed away at the scene.

Last month, the High Court in Edinburgh heard that 47-year-old MacKinnon, driving a Volkswagen Golf, partially mounted a footpath before hitting Mr McCourt, who prosecutor Neil McCulloch described as “highly visible” to all road users.

MacKinnon then struck another vehicle before his car came to a rest on its roof, with the prosecutor noting that there was “no evidence that he applied the brakes in an attempt to slow the vehicle prior to colliding with Colin McCourt”.

The 47-year-old was later discovered to have been driving with “unquantified concentrations” of five separate drugs in his system, including methadone, morphine, and etizolam, sometimes known as street Valium.

Eyewitnesses told police that MacKinnon, who had said he was “fine” when he got out of his car, appeared to be “under the influence”.

He told one police officer: “My glasses are too loose, so I had [hair] bobbles holding them on. They must have fell off my face.”

While he was being taken to the police station, he repeatedly fell asleep, and his speech was said to be “slurred” and “incoherent”.

> Drug driver who swerved onto wrong side of the road after his glasses fell off killed cyclist

MacKinnon, who had four previous convictions for road traffic offences and two related to drugs, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving while unfit through drugs at Edinburgh High Court last month.

Defending, Janice Green said that the 47-year-old’s responses were likely to have been affected by his use of the drugs, as he bent down to pick up his glasses at the moment he began to swerve.

Green added that MacKinnon was genuinely remorseful for his actions and that he was determined to address his issues with addiction while in jail.

He was sentenced yesterday to six years and nine months in prison. MacKinnon was also banned from driving for 12 years and four months, after which he will be required to sit an additional driving test, the Helensburgh Advertiser reports.

At the sentencing, Judge Alison Stirling said: “Custody is the only appropriate disposal, having regard to the serious nature of your offending.

“The reasons for this sentence include punishment, protection of the public, and rehabilitation in a custodial setting.”

Following last month’s conviction, Mr McCourt’s family released a statement via Digby Brown Solicitors in which they expressed hope that the sentence handed down to MacKinnon would act as a deterrent to others.

“The loss of Colin is something we will never truly come to terms with,” they said.

“He was a very special person to all who knew and loved him and we miss him every day.

“This conviction is welcome and we now hope the sentencing will reflect our trauma and loss while also serving us an example to make our roads safer because we don’t want other families to ever experience something like this.

“We’d like to thank loved ones, friends, those who shared happy memories of Colin with us and the wider community for their support but now request our privacy is respected as we try to move forwards.”