Drunk driver who killed OAP is jailed

A DRINK-DRIVER who killed an 83-year-old grandfather in a car crash has been jailed for two years and three months.

Peter Mechan was almost double the legal limit when he pulled out from a junction in front of the car in which pensioner Lewis Leslie, a grandfather who lived in Gullane, East Lothian, was a passenger.

Mr Leslie, 83, died in hospital on August 13, 2009, two days after the crash on the A198 in East Lothian from internal bleeding to his abdomen.

His wife of more than 40 years Margaret, also 83, was told the news and had a stroke. She died on August 31, 20 days after the crash.

At the High Court in Glasgow yesterday, judge Lady Dorrian told Mechan, 47, of Sandport Street, Edinburgh: “You knew when you decided to drive that you were over the legal limit, but carried on anyway.

“Alcohol clouded your judgement and this led to tragic consequences. The degree of carelessness was relatively low, but the level of alcohol in your blood was not.”

Lady Dorrian also banned Mechan from driving for five years.