An 80 year-old truck driver from Cardenden was today (Thursday) found guilty of causing the death of a cyclist by dangerous driving.

Adam Fernie, of Jamphlars Road, had offered to plead guilty to causing the death of 66-year-old Iain Anderson by careless driving but a jury returned a majority verdict convicting him of the more serious charge.

Mr Anderson’s wife Lilian, who was present throughout the trial, wept as the jury’s verdict was read out and was comforted by her brother-in-law Donald Anderson and other family members.

Fernie’s Nissan Cabstar truck struck Mr Anderson’s electric bike from the rear on the B797 country road near Heatherhall Woods in what an eye witness described as an “explosion” of debris and dust.

Mr Anderson, a father and grandfather, suffered multiple injuries in the crash on 25 August 2019 and was pronounced dead at the scene. 

A jury at the High Court at Livingston heard he was not wearing a safety helmet when his head shattered the windscreen of the Nissan Cabstar before he and his bike were propelled more than 30 metres down the road ahead of the truck.

An off-duty policeman and a general practitioner administered first aid to Mr Anderson and performed CPR for around 30 minutes but they, paramedics and a Heli-Med doctor were unable to save him. 

Thomas Davies, 35, self-employed fencing contractor from Cupar, gave evidence that he saw Fernie’s Nissan following the cyclist north along the B937 Edenbridge to Lindores road moments before the crash.

He said: “I kept on watching because (the truck) wasn’t slowing down – it was just staying at the same speed – and I started thinking: ‘Something’s going to happen here. He’s going to hit him!’ 

“I seen the man hit and he was just flying in the air. I was instantly in shock. I absolutely shouted like mad. 

“The van kept on going with him in the air and eventually (drove) over him. I just sprinted as  fast as I could.”

Charles Robb, 74, from Freuchie, Fife, who was driving his van southwards at the same time said he saw the cyclist approaching from the opposite direction riding about two feet out from the verge.

He said: “After about 10-12 seconds I just seen like an explosion going off and there was dust and debris all over the place. It was all over the road. 

“I could see the cyclist lying at the side of the road. Once it cleared I seen the truck still going towards me. I said to myself: ‘He’s not going to stop!’

“I crossed over to the other side of the road in my van and flashed my headlights to stop the truck. There was no windscreen on the front of it and the front was totally bashed.”

He went on: “Once I stopped the van I rolled down my window and drew up to the level of his window. I said to him: ‘You’ve hit that cyclist. Are you not going to stop?’

“He said I’ll just go up the road a bit and turn and come back again. He was surprisingly calm.”

Under questioning, Mr Robb agreed that his exact words to police at the scene had been: “I spoke to the driver of the van again and asked him: ‘Did you not see the cyclist?’ The driver told me he didn’t see him because of the sun coming through the trees.”

Bus driver Andrew Harris said he thought at first that a bag of rubbish had been thrown out of the nearside of the truck onto the roadside, before he realised the object was a person.

Mr Harris, 56, reversed his bus into a layby and ran to help a cyclist who was lying badly injured on the road.

Dramatic footage of his Good Samaritan response was captured on his vehicle’s dashcam and shown to the jury.

Several witnesses testified that they heard the accused claiming he did not see Mr Anderson because of something to do with the sun either blinding him, being in his eyes or coming through the trees. 

Summing up, the advocate depute suggested that Fernie had not seen the cyclist at all and was closer to the verge than Mr Anderson. He reminded jurors that there were no skid marks on the road to suggest that Fernie had braked and the sun was behind him as he drove north.

Following Fernie’s conviction, Judge Lord Weir told him: “Standing the jury’s verdict and your lack of any relevant record of previous offending I’ll require to instruct a background report into your circumstances before determining the appropriate disposal in this case.”

He deferred sentence until 31 March at the High Court in Glasgow and allowed Fernie to remain at liberty on bail until then.

The family of Iain Anderson released a statement at the time of the accident saying: “Our family are devastated to have lost a loving husband and father of five children as well as an amazing grandad to five grandchildren. He will be sorely missed.”