A north-east sales rep who killed a Moray dad in a road crash has been spared jail amid angry scenes in court where the sentence was branded “a joke”.
Antony Zanre, from Peterhead, struck a car in which Dameon MacPhee was a passenger after overtaking a tanker in his own Volkswagen Golf.
The 23-year-old, of Buckie, did not survive the smash on the A96 near Elgin in November 2017.
Other people were hurt, including a toddler.
Zanre yesterday appeared at the High Court in Glasgow having previously been convicted of causing death by careless driving.
Lord Burns told the 68 year-old the “public interest” did not require him to impose a jail-term.
The judge instead imposed a community payback order which will see Zanre carry out 250 hours of unpaid work.
Zanre will also be supervised for 18 months. He was further banned from the road for three years.
Mr MacPhee’s family were in court today. One woman reacted furiously at the sentencing and had to be escorted out of court by police.
She swore and shouted at Zanre: “That’s a joke – 250 hours for taking someone’s life. You are a murderer.”
A jury in Edinburgh previously heard how Zanre was on way to a meeting in Elgin when he overtook another vehicle and went into the path of an oncoming car.
One motorist who earlier saw Zanre described his “aggressive” driving and called him an “idiot”.
The driver of the other car involved had to brake causing a Vauxhall Astra that Mr MacPhee was in to take evasive action.
Zanre had initially been accused of causing death by dangerous driving before being convicted of the lesser charge.
His lawyer said he had “misjudged the space” to carry out the overtake that day.
Susan Duff, defending, added Zanre had been “quite tearful” when reading an emotional victim impact statement written by Mr MacPhee’s mum Jane Grant.
The advocate went on: “He thinks about what happened every day.”
