Banned driver jailed for killing partner after falling asleep at wheel

A banned driver who killed his partner in a car crash when he fell asleep at the wheel has been jailed for five years and three months.

Rebecca Tasker was in the back seat of her car, being driven by 30-year-old Edward Carty on the A90 near Errol, Perth and Kinross, when the smash happened.

Disqualified driver Carty veered off the road, sending the vehicle down an embankment before striking two trees.

Carty, of Blackburn in Lancashire, previously admitted causing the death of Ms Tasker on 12 August in 2022 by driving dangerously.

The High Court in Edinburgh was told that Carty had previous convictions for driving without a licence, without insurance and while disqualified as well as for offences of violence and dishonesty.

A judge told him that the consequences of his actions were "devastating".

Lord Young said: "Rebecca Tasker was a young woman who was part of a close and loving family.

"The sentence I will pass today is not in any sense a measure of the value of the life that has been lost."

The court was told members of the public were able to pull two children from the car, who were unharmed.

Carty's friend also escaped without injury but Ms Tasker was pronounced dead at the scene.

She suffered two spinal injuries, a severe neck injury and blunt force trauma to several ribs.

Carty - who had been driving for 14 hours without rest - later posted on social media app TikTok that he had fallen asleep.

Defence solicitor advocate Brian Bell said: "He has asked me to express his genuine remorse for the consequences of his deliberate driving on that particular day."

He said Carty and Ms Tasker had been in a short relationship for about six weeks when the incident occurred.