Edinburgh lawyer cleared of causing deaths in car crash

Andrew Houston’s Audi A4 hit a Jeep on A9 in July 2013. His wife, Abigail, 42 and daughter Mia, seven, as well as Mohammad Hayajneh, 62, a passenger in the Jeep, died.

Mr Houston, a partner at McSporrans Solicitors in Edinburgh, was found guilty of driving carelessly but not of causing their deaths. He was banned from driving for a year and fined £1,000.

Derek McLean, from Thompsons Solicitors, represented the Hayajneh family. He said that while the case was “tragic” for all concerned, his clients were “shocked, disappointed and, frankly, bewildered” by the outcome.

“The jury appear to have decided that Mr Houston was guilty of careless driving in crossing over onto the wrong side of the road, but, bizarrely, they have also decided that the horrific consequences which followed were somehow not caused by that carelessness,” he added.

“I am afraid that I can find no logic whatsoever in that. The Hayajneh family feel badly let down by the Scottish criminal justice system and will now seek answers in the civil courts.

“It must also be said that the A9 between Inverness and Perth has been the scene of far too many fatal and serious accidents over the years and ought to have been upgraded to dual carriageway status long before now.”