Family destroyed by drink-drive monster now daughters fear meeting man who killed their dad

Prisoner eligible for days out after serving just one year.

The schoolgirl daughters of a man mown down by a drunk driver have told they fear meeting their dad’s killer in the street.

Devastated Faye and Mia Fulton burst into tears when mum Jill told them the man who killed their dad was now eligible for days out from prison.

Keith McCardle was caged for five years in January 2014 for running over her husband Gavin, 43, while under the influence.

Last night Jill said Faye, 15, and Mia, 12, are anxious they could bump into McCardle while on one of his jaunts out.

“Both my girls burst into tears when I told them,” said Jill, 43. “My youngest asked if she would see him in the streets and I had to gently explain that she might.

“If he is getting out to be with his family, his sister lives on the next street to us. It doesn’t bear thinking about.”

IT worker Gavin was mown down in December 2012. McCardle, from Musselburgh, East Lothian, was jailed and banned for eight years after being found guilty of causing his death by dangerous driving.

He admitted downing four alcoholic drinks before getting behind the wheel of his Land Rover Freelander.

He mounted a pavement in Dundas Road, Edinburgh, killing the hard-working dad.

“Gavin never stood a chance,” Jill, of Edinburgh said tearfully. “I felt the world collapse around me, but knew I had to cope for the sake of our daughters.

“It took a year for the case to come to court, but McCardle got less than the maximum sentence of 14 years. He was given just five years for killing the dad of two wee girls.

“Yet just over a year later we hear he is getting home to be with his family for days out. This is opening wounds that haven’t even begun to heal.”

Jill, a theatre nurse at the Western General Hospital, said the “pain never goes away”.

As such, she is furious McCardle is able to apply for unescorted leave after just over a year in jail.

More than anything, the thought of meeting him in the street leaves the entire family terrified.

“He is being allowed to be with his family, but we will never see Gavin again. Where is the justice in that?

“I would have expected some day release maybe after four years. But this is too soon. It makes a mockery of what he did to Gavin.

“He chose to drink and drive, he got into his Land Rover and mounted the pavement and killed Gavin.”

The news of the drunk driver’s invitation to apply for leave from prison came in a hand delivered letter to Jill’s home.

She says she has no right to appeal the decision.

The letter was sent to her under the victim notification scheme and says, “I am writing to inform you that Keith Carmichael McCardle has been assigned Low Supervision status and might now be eligible, in certain circumstances, for unescorted temporary release .”

Jill said as soon as she saw the Scottish Prison Service headed notepaper she knew it was “bad news”.

“I struggled to get back to work, but this has set me back again and I know I cannot face nursing at this moment,” she said.

“It’s impossible to give my whole attention to the patients in the breast surgery theatre at the Western General.

“My hospital bosses have been supportive, which is a blessing, but watching your husband ebb away through someone’s complete disregard for life has been incredibly painful.

“Our lives changed forever at that moment and the feeling of loneliness has been crushing.

“What’s the point of all these police drink-driving campaigns if you are only going to be locked up for a year after being almost twice the legal limit, getting into a big powerful car with other occupants, driving under the influence to the extent that you cross to the other side of the road, mounting the pavement in a big powerful car and killing a sober pedestrian.

“It doesn’t get much worse! Yet it seems as if drink-driving is being seen as a lesser criminal offence.”

Passing sentence at the High Court in Edinburgh last year, judge Lord Doherty told McCardle: “Your dangerous driving ended Mr Fulton’s life. It has caused inestimable damage to the lives of his family and others. No sentence that I can impose can undo that damage.”

Those strong courtroom words no longer comfort Jill.

“We are suffering twice,” she added. “By losing Gavin and from a justice system which offers little support for the families of victims.”

The Scottish Prison Service told The Sunday Post it has a “responsibility to prepare individuals for appearance in front of the parole board”.

“Unescorted leave is part of that process, testing access to the community,” their spokesman added.

Courts rarely hand out maximum sentence

The maximum sentence for causing death by dangerous driving is 14 years but such severe punishment is rarely meted out by the courts.

A sentence also brings a minimum two-year ban and a requirement the offender has to sit an extended test of competency before they can get their licence back.

Last November Scottish Government figures for all homicides, including death by dangerous driving, revealed a 16% increase in the number of offences.

Being drunk at the time of the offence would be treated as a separate charge in any resulting court case and could influence the opinion of the judge or sheriff in sentencing.

Yesterday in a chilling echo of Jill’s nightmare above a dad branded a court’s decision to allow a driver who killed his son to walk free from court a “mockery of justice”.

Andrew Wilson, 55, admitted causing the death of Anton Dementyev, 19, by dangerous driving. He was ordered to do 240 hours of community work and banned for 19 months. Anton’s dad Vladimir said: “It’s not justice.”