Lorry driver Paul Mowat pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving following a crash on the morning of January 27, 2023, in the city centre.
At 10am, Emma Burke Newman, 22, approached a set of red lights at the junction of Broomielaw and King George V Bridge on her travels to university.
READ MORE: ‘We cry every day’: Parents of cyclist killed in Glasgow share grief
She moved into lane one and passed Mowat’s lorry on its nearside and stopped.
Mowat began moving forward, and Emma followed around two seconds after, looking right, towards the lorry.
He turned left and the lorry’s bumper connected with the offside pannier rack of Emma’s bike, causing her to fall off.
She was dragged under the lorry for around 53 metres.
Several clips of CCTV and dashcam footage were played in court – where Emma’s parents Rose and John were present.
The couple from America, but who have lived in France since 1994, had talked about whether they should watch the clips beforehand.
“As parents, we felt obligated,” Rose said.
“It’s our parental duty to be there because it is the last few months of our daughter’s life. We knew it would be tough, but I have to say, since the accident, we’ve just mentally been having scenes go around in our heads.
“For us, it was just really important to be there and set that record straight for ourselves.”
John added: “It was difficult. But we’ve had an entire year of mentally conjuring scenarios of what happened. And those were all equally as bad.”
The court heard that a driver behind Mowat had begun flashing his lights and sounding his horn to alert him to stop after realising what happened.
The 69-year-old stopped his lorry in lane two.
Witnesses rushed to assist, some of which heard Mowat state “I didn’t see her”.
999 operators were called, and a member of the public prevented any more traffic from entering the area until police arrived.
When a paramedic attended, he noted Emma to be breathing but not conscious.
After specialist treatment, she was rushed to hospital – where she was sadly pronounced dead at 11.25am.
Emma, originally from France, was on her way to Mackintosh School of Architecture at the time.
She had moved to Glasgow just four months before to study and had quickly settled in.
A postmortem examination found extensive injuries to her abdomen, pelvis and legs.
Emma’s cause of death was recorded as “multiple injuries due to a road traffic accident”.
The court heard that Mowat was subject to roadside drug and alcohol tests which came back negative, and that he has a clear driving record.
A re-enactment of the incident was carried out by Police Scotland weeks later as part of a detailed investigation.
A lorry with an officer the same size as Mowat in the driver’s seat and an officer the same size as Emma on a bike were placed into the same positions.
It was found that Emma would have been completely obstructed from view when sitting relaxed in the driver’s seat.
But when the officer moved his head, he was able to obtain a good view of the cyclist.
Traffic collision investigators concluded that Emma, who was wearing bright-coloured clothing and a white helmet, placed herself in a vulnerable position and had a number of other options available to navigate the junction more safely.
It was also concluded that Mowat should have been more attentive at the junction and checked any blind spots before moving off.
He was found to have had his view obstructed by a reversing camera, dirty mirrors and windscreen.
Mowat’s lawyer Kris Kane said: “Mr Mowat has asked me to convey his condolences to her family members who are present.”
Sentencing was deferred for a criminal justice social work report and a restriction of liberty order assessment by Sheriff Matthew Jackson KC.
He was disqualified from driving as of today.
Speaking in the hours after the hearing, Rose said: “For me, it’s only starting to hit; the emotion of it. As the judge said, it’s going to be harrowing, but it’s just starting to set in now and it’ll be with us for the rest of our lives.”
John added: “I don’t bear him [Mowat] any ill will. As the evidence showed, it all happened very quickly. And it all happened because of some negligence on his part and some aspects of his vehicle.
“But it just goes to show that just small bits of distraction or small bits of lapses and following the rules matters a lot.”
