Jail for driver who killed friend

Sutherland was sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh

A man who caused the death of his friend by driving at "grossly excessive speed" has been sentenced to four years and eight months in jail.

At the High Court in Edinburgh, Ross Sutherland had admitted causing the death of Ian Sandison, 18, after a night out in Lerwick in November 2007.

They had been unable to find a taxi home.

Judge Lord Menzies said Sutherland had driven at "horrendously dangerous speeds" while over the drink limit.

He added: "You killed a close friend and you will have to live with that for the rest of your life."

Only his plea of guilty which had avoided the emotional stress of a trial for the Sandison family had saved Sutherland, 20, from a sentence of seven years detention.

The court had heard that Ian Sandison had been arguing with his brother, Magnus, about who should drive home before Sutherland took the wheel.

Provisional license

The court heard that he was the least affected by drink, but was over the legal drink drive limit and had only a provisional license.

Police accident experts later said the speed when Sutherland crashed was probably between 62mph and 76mph in a 30mph zone.

Ian Sandison died from a massive head injury when he was thrown from the back seat of the car and hit the rear-view mirror.

Sutherland's defence advocate David Moggach said his client was haunted by the death of his friend.

And a background report about Sutherland said: "The shock of this event, losing a close friend in such an avoidable accident, has had a profound effect on this young man."

Lord Menzies said he accepted that Sutherland had shown genuine remorse but added: "It seems to me this is not a case which falls at the lowest end in the scale of causing death by dangerous driving."

Sutherland was also banned from driving for five years.