A woman has admitted causing the death of a toddler in a horror road crash in the north Highlands.
Iain Mackay was asleep in his booster seat at the time of the accident on a sharp bend on the A99 coastal road between Latheron and Wick, in Caithness.
He sustained serious brain and spinal injuries and died several days later after Sonya Henderson veered on the wrong side of the road ‘for reasons unknown’.
Wick Sheriff Court heard yesterday how the 35-month old had been returning home to Wick with his mother Ashlyne from a Sunday afternoon trip to a play park.
They were heading north in a blue Peugeot driver by Savanna Nixey when the accident happened at Occumster, north of Lybster.
Henderson, 47, from Lybster, had been due to go to trial but yesterday pleaded guilty to causing the youngster’s death by careless driving on August 22, 2021.
Fiscal depute Niall Macdonald said Henderson was alone driving south in a blue Nissan Qashqai.
She claimed to police that she had braked after seeing an oncoming car on the wrong side of the road.
Iain Mackay was asleep in his booster seat when the cars collided on a sharp bend on the A99 between Latheron and Wick
But specialist crash investigators found it had been the Nissan which had entered the bend on the opposing carriageway.
Mr Mcdonald told the court: ‘Ms Nixey was entirely in her own lane.’
A nearby householder raised the alarm while the boy was given CPR before the arrival of paramedics.
The fiscal said: ‘He was slumped over and appeared unresponsive.’
He was taken to Caithness General in Wick where his prospects of surviving were rated as low.
The child was transferred to the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow where he died several days later.
His mother, then 26, had to be freed from the wreckage by fire-fighters after being trapped in the front passenger seat.
She was in hospital for two-and-a-half months after being treated for multiple fractures to her pelvis, femur and a hand
Wick Sheriff Court heard yesterday the child and his mother Ashlyne had been returning home to Wick from a Sunday afternoon trip to a playpark
Ms Nixey, then 25, was also injured, as was Henderson, who suffered a fractured and dislocated ankle.
The court heard that both drivers had approached the bend at an ‘appropriate’ speed, Henderson going at 44mph and Ms Nixey at 52mph.
Henderson told police: ‘A car was heading towards me on the wrong side of the road. In order to avoid a collision, I hit the brakes as hard as I could… I kept full control of my car until it was struck by the other vehicle.’
But the crash investigators concluded: ‘Having considered all the evidence, we believe that, for reasons unknown, the accused allowed her car to enter the wrong, oncoming lane.
‘The accused drove her car fully on to the incorrect lane which left her and the other driver no time or distance to avoid the inevitable collision that ensued that was the significant cause of Iain Mackay losing his life.’
Deferring sentence until January 21 for a social work report, Sheriff Neil Wilson said: ‘You have pleaded guilty to a very serious charge to which any and all options are available to the court.’
The sheriff in the meantime banned Henderson from driving.
