Moray man who crashed pick-up truck into Elgin-Inverness train loses bid to overturn dangerous driving conviction

A man who drove a pick-up truck into the path of a train has failed in a bid to have his dangerous driving conviction quashed.

Ivan Nicol, from Forres, passed through level crossing gates, ignoring red flashing lights and a warning siren, and collided with the two-carriage train travelling from Elgin to Inverness on January 31, 2023.

The 52-year-old denied a charge of dangerous driving at the Lower Cullernie crossing near Allanfearn, Inverness-shire, during a trial at Inverness Sheriff Court in December 2024.

However, Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald banned Nicol from driving for a year and fined him £1000. He was also ordered to pay a £40 victim surcharge.

This prompted Nicol’s legal team to launch an appeal against his conviction at the Sheriff Appeal Court in Edinburgh.

His advocate Wendy Culross argued that prosecutors had failed to lead enough evidence to establish that the road at the crossing was a public one.

Appeal Sheriffs heard that the need to prove the road was public was essential in order to prove Nicol’s guilt.

Crown lawyer Lorraine Glancy KC told the court that Nicol’s conviction was safe as her colleagues had led such evidence.

In a written judgement published by the court on Wednesday, Sheriff Principal Aisha Anwar KC and her two colleagues upheld Nicol’s conviction.

Sheriff Principal Anwar - who sat with Sheriff Gregor Murray and Sheriff Philip Mann - wrote: “On balance, we are satisfied that there was a sufficiency of evidence before the sheriff and that the facts found established entitled her to conclude that the road was a way over which the public had access.”

During earlier proceedings, Pauline Smith, the driver of the 12.36pm service from Elgin to Inverness, said her train was travelling at around 68mph when she saw Nicol's pick-up truck emerging on to the track.

She told depute procurator fiscal Eilidh Gunn: ”I was worried we were going to end up derailing.

"Everything seemed clear, it wasn't until I was just about on the crossing that the car came out."

Ms Smith described how Nicol's vehicle "just drove straight out" into her path at the user-operated crossing.

CCTV footage from the train showed she had only moments to react as Nicol's vehicle moved on to the railway line.

She said: "I threw the brake on into emergency and I was trying to get to the horn."

Safety protocols for train drivers state they should leave the cab before impact, but Ms Smith said: "There was no time."

In the judgement published on Tuesday, Sheriff Principal Anwar wrote: “we shall…. refuse the appeal.”