Driver who was speeding was jailed after killing a young man in a crash

A student has been jailed for four and a half years after killing a young man in a collision while driving more than twice the speed limit.

Ralph Fairhurst, 26, crashed into Kyle Middlemass, 20, on Easter Road in Leith, Edinburgh, in the early hours of June 19, 2022.

Mr Middlemass, who was raised by his grandparents and hoped to work in outdoor sports, died in hospital 10 days later.

The High Court in Glasgow heard that Fairhurst had been fined for speeding seven months earlier.

Fairhurst previously admitted causing death by dangerous driving and failing to stop and was jailed for four years and six months when sentenced in court on Thursday.

He was banned from driving for nine years.

Judge Lord Young said: “Kyle was 20 when he died. He was raised by his grandparents from the age of four.

“He was a young man just beginning his adult life. He loved sports and the outdoors and hoped to build a career in outdoor sports. Not a single sentence reflects the value of Kyle’s life.”

He said Fairhurst was driving at an “excessive speed along a city center street in the early hours of the weekend when revelers like Kyle would be heading home after a night out”.

The judge said: “You were accelerating and not braking. Your position is that you did not see him and did not know that you had hit someone.

‘You couldn’t stop, but it must have been obvious you hit something. You were fined for a speeding violation seven months earlier. That couldn’t stop you.”

A grieving relative shouted “rot in hell” as Fairhurst was led to the cells.

His lawyer said neither Fairhurst nor two passengers traveling in the Vauxhall Astra were aware the car had hit a person.

CCTV footage was shown to the court showing the Vauxhall traveling at an estimated speed of 45mph along the road, which is lined with rental flats and has a speed limit of 20mph.

The car appeared to collide but continued on its journey, and the court heard Fairhurst only realized the ‘contact’ was serious when he saw the damage to the car.

Mark Stewart defended: “He accepts responsibility and accepts the extent of the misconduct. He understands the extreme consequences for the family of the deceased. He deeply regrets it and apologizes.”

Mr Stewart said Fairhurst was receiving directions from his passengers at the time of the crash.

He said: “On closer inspection he came into contact with something, he thought it was the road surface or an object.

‘He never once thought he was a person, it wasn’t an issue that made him stop.

“When he saw the damage, he realized that this event was a more serious event.

“He didn’t think it was about an individual until he was confronted with reality and spoke to the police.”

Mr Stewart added: “That is not an excuse or an attempt to minimize responsibility.”