Drug driver who drove on wrong side of A9 killed mum-of-four in head-on crash

A drug driver killed a mother of four in a head-on crash after consuming cocaine and driving onto the wrong side of the road.

Jamie Little drove onto the opposing carriageway on a Highland road and caused the Toyota Hilux he was driving to collide with a Mini Cooper with Margaret Sutherland at the wheel.

The 59-year-old carer died at the scene after suffering severe injuries in the crash, which resulted in her car ending up on a grass verge.

Little, 41, was required by police to give a saliva specimen for roadside drug testing, which gave a positive reading for cocaine. He was arrested and taken to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, and cocaine and a metabolite of the Class A narcotic, Benzoylecgonine, were found in his blood.

He was found to have been driving with five times the limit for cocaine in his system and more than 16 times the limit for the metabolite, which is produced when the body processes cocaine.

Little, of Alness, Ross-shire, admitted causing the death of Ms Sutherland on April 30, 2024, on the A9 road at Torepark, in Easter Ross, by driving dangerously, while the proportions of cocaine and Benzolecgonine in his blood were above specified limits, when he appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh.

He failed to make proper observations of the road ahead, drove onto the opposing carriageway, failed to take evasive action despite oncoming traffic and caused the fatal collision.

Little also admitted driving when the proportion of cocaine in his blood was 57 microgrammes of the drug in a litre of blood, when the limit is 10 microgrammes. He also pleaded guilty to driving with above 800 microgrammes of Benzoylecgonine in a litre of blood when the limit is 50 microgrammes.

The court heard how it was unknown why or when the Toyota entered the wrong lane, or for how long it had been there prior to the crash.

Little, who has a previous conviction for dangerous driving, was working as a service engineer, travelling around hydro sites carrying out maintenance and repairs

Defence solicitor advocate Shahid Latif told the court that Little was “acutely aware” of the devastation his decision to drive had caused the victim’s family.

The judge, Lord Summers, deferred sentence on Little for the preparation of a background report and remanded him in custody. The judge told him: “You are presently on bail, that bail is now rescinded.”