UPDATE HIGH COURT IN INVERNESS: Lorry driver did a 'proper thorough check' prior to fatal accident
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An experienced lorry driver told a jury there was no reason why a colleague should not have driven a vehicle because he had not been trained to use its crane.
Jamie Campbell, who previously worked with 52-year-old John O'Donnell, from Inverurie, for Glenevin Construction, was giving evidence during the second day of O'Donnell's dangerous driving trial at the High Court in Inverness.
It has been accepted that O'Donnell knocked down and killed 26-year-old nursery teacher Chloe Morrison as she was walking with her mother on a pavement outside Drumnadrochit after one of his lorry's stabiliser legs became extended.
Ms Morrison was struck on the back and died from multiple fractures on October 25, 2019 after being thrown 35m along a pavement before the lorry ran over her leg.
But O'Donnell denies driving dangerously, and repeatedly failing to check the outrigger legs were secure before and during his journey from Skye to Oldmeldrum.
It is also alleged one of the legs was “protruding” and almost hit someone on the A82 at Drumnadrochit before Ms Morrison was struck.
Mr Campbell told the jury that a 50-minute video of O'Donnell checking the lorry the day before, when he commenced his journey to Skye, showed "he did a proper thorough check".
He conceded that no physical inspection had been made of the outriggers and it may have just been a visual one.
Mr Cambell agreed with defence QC Tony Graham that yellow warning signs which were displayed at different times during a three-stage locking or unlocking process were "similar shape and size" and roughly in the same position. He accepted an untrained eye could miss the distinction.
However, he admitted to advocate depute David Dickson that the shades of yellow were different.
The jury were also told that the lorry Mr O'Donnell used was of an older type which, unlike more modern vehicles, had no other visual or audible warnings in the cab or an inhibitor to stop the vehicle moving when unsafe to do so.
In addition, the jury heard that the crane was not the right one for the job Mr O'Donnell was required to do for off-loading pallets of light plastic ducts for fibre optic cabling.
The trial continues.
