Drunk driver Darren Sturgeon jailed for deaths of two grandfathers

A drunk driver has been jailed for eight years for causing the deaths of two grandfathers as they returned home from a dominos game.

Darren Sturgeon, 35, was speeding when he hit John Laird's car in Rutherglen on 18 November 2022, killing the driver and his passenger Michael McManamon.

It was also revealed that he was caught drink driving again five months later.

He pled guilty at the High Court in Glasgow to causing death by dangerous driving and driving without insurance.

Alongside the prison sentence, he was also disqualified from driving for 14 years.

Sturgeon, who is from the Eastwood area of Glasgow, was wearing only one shoe and had a bandaged foot when he was taken out of the wreckage of his Ford Mondeo "steaming" drunk.

The court heard he had been in hospital having a toe amputated a week before the collision.

His car hit the passenger side of Mr Laird's Mercedes C220 on Mill Street at the junction with Kings Park Avenue and caused both cars to crash into metal railings.

The court heard Mr Laird, 80, and Mr McManamon, 73, were returning home from a bowling club that evening.

Mr McManamon died at the scene and Mr Laird, the driver, later died in hospital. Post-mortem examinations determined the cause of deaths as "multiple injuries caused by road traffic collision".

The court heard how Sturgeon had been seen driving erratically and at excessive speeds shortly before the crash.

Police found Sturgeon in the driver's seat, where he appeared to be under the influence and smelled strongly of alcohol.

He then failed a roadside breath test and told officers he was "steaming" as he was arrested.

Later in hospital, he was in "disbelief" that he had killed someone and said: "I've got five kids, I can't tell them their dad's killed someone, are you being legit?"

The judge told Sturgeon: "You either knew, or should have known, of the risks that might arise from your actions."

Joseph Barr, defending, previously told the court that Sturgeon was his most remorseful client in his 35 years in law.

The advocate read out a lengthy letter written by Sturgeon to apologise to the families who were in attendance at court.

It said: "I cannot emphasise how much I am sorry for the loss of your family members."

On sentencing, the court heard how Sturgeon held previous convictions for driving without insurance and for drink driving.

Lord Colbeck told Sturgeon: "As was recognised by your counsel when the case last called, nothing said by you or on your behalf can offer comfort to the families and friends of Mr Laird and Mr McManamon.

"The gravity of the crimes you have committed is such that there is no suitable alternative to a prison sentence. That is necessary to punish you, to seek to deter you and others from driving in such a dangerous manner and to protect the public from you."