Driver jailed for fatal crash while looking at phone

A van driver who was under the influence of cannabis and using his mobile phone when he killed a top academic in Edinburgh has been jailed for four-and-a-half years.

Darren Gilmour mounted the pavement before hitting Dr William Noel in Trinity Crescent on 10 April last year.

Dr Noel died 19 days later at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary after sustaining severe head injuries in the collision.

Lord Cubie told Gilmour, 42, at the High Court in Edinburgh he would have faced a six-year prison term but for his guilty plea to causing the death of Dr Noel by dangerous driving.

Gilmour was also banned from driving for eight years and three months and will be required to sit an extended test before he can drive again.

Dr Noel, 58, from the US city of Philadelphia, was in Edinburgh in his role as an associate librarian for special collections at Princeton University.

Lord Cubie said a victim impact statement from Dr Noel's brother made it clear "his sudden and unexpected death so far from home was a catastrophic event".

The former Cambridge University student left a wife and teenage son and the family had to deal with "the almost unbearable decision to switch off life support", said the judge.

Gilmour, from Midlothian, earlier admitted causing the death by dangerous driving while under the influence of cannabis and repeatedly using his mobile phone.

The court heard Gilmour, a cabinet maker, was found to have 2.4 mg of THC from cannabis per one litre of blood. The legal limit is 2 mg.

Defence counsel Tony Graham KC said of Gilmour: "He is an unextraordinary man who has led an unextraordinary life."

He said Gilmour had expressed genuine remorse and added: "Sorry is not enough. Sorry will do little to satisfy those who are bereaved."

Dr Noel, a medievalist, was described as "a scholar of note" in a tribute by a professor at Cambridge University.

He had previously been honoured during President Obama's time at the White House for his commitment to open science.