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Jailed, van driver who killed cyclist after crashing into him while reading paperwork

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By DAVE FINLAY FOR THE SCOTTISH DAILY MAIL

Published: 19:01 BST, 16 September 2025 | Updated: 19:01 BST, 16 September 2025

A van driver who was reading paperwork as he knocked down and killed a father of two cycling to work has been jailed for six years.

Philip Scott was told by a judge it had been ‘heartbreaking’ to read of the impact of Euan Thomson’s death on his family.

Lady Hood said at the High Court in Edinburgh: ‘That was the morning their world fell apart.’

The judge said the 32-year-old victim had two young sons and was a man who excelled at his work and in his sports, especially rugby.

She pointed out that Scott, 40, has 14 groups of previous convictions, nine of which involved road traffic offences, including using a mobile phone while driving.

Lady Hood added: ‘Use of illicit substances has been a constant feature of your adult life.’

Scott, formerly of Nelson Street, Largs, in North Ayrshire, had denied causing the death of Mr Thomson by dangerous driving on August 10, 2022 on the A760 Largs to Kilbirnie road near Dalry.

But he was convicted of the crime by a jury following an earlier trial at the High Court in Kilmarnock.

Euan Thomson, above, was killed by van driver Philip Scott as he cycled to work

A witness told police that he thought the van driver was paying attention to a bit of paper and not the road.

Lady Hood said the jury accepted that Scott was not watching the road ahead, where Mr Thomson was cycling, because he was looking at paperwork.

She told him that given the nature and seriousness of the charge a custodial sentence was the only appropriate penalty. Scott had offered to plead guilty to a lesser charge involving careless driving but the Crown rejected the plea and he went to trial.

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Jailed, van driver who killed cyclist after crashing into him while reading paperwork

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