A77 death crash driver gets ban and probation

Oct 31 2008 by Lisa Boyle

A DEATH crash driver has walked free from court.

Kenneth Wilson, 19, crashed the Transit van he was driving on the A77 last year.

His passenger, 20-year-old Maybole man Gary Megraw, died when Wilson failed to maintain a proper lookout and smashed into a lorry.

Wilson admitted careless driving, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance at the Meiklewood interchange in August 2007.

But this week at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court he escaped a prison sentence.

Wilson, of Ayr’s Fenwickland Avenue, was dealt 12 months’ probation and 200 hours of community service.

And he has been banned from the road for three years.

The horror crash unfolded just after 11am on August 16 last year.

Wilson lost control of the van and collided with an articulated lorry parked in lay-by.

Neither the 36-year-old lorry driver or his 20-year-old passenger was injured.

But Gary, a former pupil of Queen Margaret Academy, died at the scene.

Wilson was taken to Crosshouse hospital and treated for minor injuries.

The road was closed for five hours after the crash for investigators to establish exactly what happened.

More than a year after his death, tributes are still being paid to Gary through his Bebo page.

His best friend Kieran said last week: “Really missing you, Gary, thinking of you.”

Gary’s heartbroken mum Jackie said: “I love and miss you each and every day.”