Driver on phone spared jail after killing friend

A driver who killed his motorcyclist friend in a crash while using his mobile phone has avoided jail.

Paul Shrubsole, 60, struck former lecturer Julian Wiseman, 57, with his Nissan Qashqai on the M74 near Lesmahagow, South Lanarkshire, in July 2021.

His car also hit his friend Paul Allum’s motorbike and left him with life-changing injuries.

Shrubsole will have to carry out a two-year community payback order and was sentenced to 300 hours of unpaid work. He has been banned from driving for five years.

The judge, Lord Arthurson, said there was “no public interest” in sending him to prison as he was one of the most “broken” people he had seen in the dock.

The crash happened while Shrubsole was on holiday in Scotland with Mr Wiseman and Mr Allum, who had been his friends for 40 years.

The High Court in Glasgow heard Shrubsole, of Essex, used his hands-free mobile device to make a call moments before the fatal collision.

Last month, a jury convicted him of causing the death of Mr Wiseman by careless driving.

The group had been driving in a convoy from England to Scotland on a trip, and Mr Wiseman and Mr Allum had driven ahead of Shrubsole’s Qashqai.

Jurors heard Shrubsole was distracted and failed to react in time to the road ahead.

Tony Graham KC, defending, had asked Lord Arthurson not to send Shrubsole to prison.

During sentencing, the judge said all three men had met while at Kent University, and one of them was Shrubsole’s best man.

He acknowledged that Mr Allum had showed “continued support” for his friend despite what happened.

Lord Arthurson said: “I have read a moving impact statement prepared by Mr Wiseman’s fiance and son. He was a rare and wholly genuine life force.

“Mr Allum also wrote an emotional statement and the judge said he was now paraplegic but was coping with “remarkable fortitude”.”

The judge told Shrubsole: “As I observed you in the dock. Rarely have I seen such a broken individual in the courtroom.

“Your remorse is genuine and profound. There is no public benefit in sending you to prison.

“You are serving your own indefinite sentence of grief and remorse.”

Shrubsole has vowed never to drive again.

The judge said he should use this opportunity to “dedicate the years to serving others and rehabilitate himself”.

The former accountant and Mr Wiseman had previously set up Grays Athletic walking football team together.

Mr Wiseman had recovered from cancer just before the collision.

Prosecutor Christopher Wilson told jurors in his closing speech: “Twenty seconds. That’s the period of time he failed to react to the lights of the flowing traffic ahead of him.”

A witness reported seeing one of the motorcyclists being “thrown into the air.”

Shrubsole was described as “very panicked” at the scene.

Jurors were told that Shrubsole sent a text message to a contact on his mobile, which read: “I’ve killed Julian and Paul. I ploughed into the back of them.”

Shrubsole later told police: “I accept full liability. I was on the phone, it was hands free, I pressed dial and it was it.”

Mr Wiseman suffered a string of injuries including multiple fractures, while Mr Allum suffered a serious spinal injury.

Mr Graham said Shrubsole would be “happy” to be disqualified from driving for life.

Paying tribute to the former maths lecturer following his death, Mr Wiseman’s family said: “We would like to extend condolences to all of those affected by his loss, particularly to all of his students who always meant so much to him.

“Words cannot express what a kind, caring, compassionate and supportive person Julian was and he will be sorely missed by everybody who had the pleasure of knowing him.”

A statement from his Grays Athletic team read: “Julian was a very warm and friendly person who engaged with all players in the club to encourage them to play better.”