Killer driver who mowed down tot Harlow Edwards in Coupar Angus moments after sending angry texts to girlfriend sobs as judge jails him for six years
Frenzied Luke Pirie was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow after admitting sending a flurry of furious texts accusing his lover of cheating moments before crashing into the two-year-old
KILLER driver Luke Pirie sobbed as he was locked up for six years after mowing down two-year-old Harlow Edwards in Coupar Angus.
Pirie, 23, smashed his Ford Focus into another motor while trying a crazy overtaking manoeuvre before spinning out of control into the tot, her sister Dionne and a six-year-old boy who were stood on a pavement.
He learned his fate at the High Court in Glasgow this morning.
Judge Lord Ericht told him that but for his guilty plea he would have been jailed for nine years.
Little Harlow died instantly while sibling Dionne, now 18, and the lad were both thrown over a wall in Coupar Angus, Perthshire, on October 13 last year.
, who passed his test a year before, admitted causing death by dangerous driving.
He also admitted causing serious injury to the 17-year-old girl and six-year-old boy, in the same incident.
A court heard last week that the manic driver had accused his lover of cheating in a flurry of moments before he mowed down little Harlow.
He also used his mobile to call and FaceTime lover Heather Eaton, 21, in a panic as he sped towards her home for a showdown.
At an earlier hearing Prosecutor Iain McSporran QC told a court Pirie, from Forfar, was raging after leaving work early at Perth Airport to confront Ms Eaton in Montrose.
The manic text blitz came in a 30-minute spell.
Mr McSporran said: "He continued to send and read images and text messages after driving away from his work.
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"It is clear from the number of calls and messages and the content of those images which can be read that he was upset and angry with his partner."
The court heard Pirie read a message from Ms Eaton at 3.17pm - and replied within FOUR SECONDS to say he had been involved in a crash.
Harlow's family gasped as footage was shown of Pirie exceeding the 30mph limit behind a queue of traffic moments before the horror smash.
Outside the High Court in Glasgow Harlow's grieving mum Sara urged motorists not to text and drive and said: “We lost our little girl. It was extremely avoidable. “
She added that the tragedy would “serve as a reminder of the responsibility that comes when you get behind the wheel of a car.”
Pirie had been using his phone before coming to a junction behind three cars.
One car was indicating to go right but frenzied Pirie pulled out to overtake and smashed into a car at 50mph before mounting the pavement.
Tragic Harlow suffered "multiple severe injuries".
Doctors said her death was "inevitable and rapid".
Defence QC Mark Stewart said Pirie suffers from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and depression.
After pleading guilty at an earlier hearing, Mr Stewart said his client had "wrongly believed it was a stationary line of traffic" when he tried to pass.
He said: "This is not an excuse or a defence but an explanation as to why he made the manoeuvre.
“He can't do anything to make things better or make things right. All he could do was plead guilty.”
The devastated mum, and husband Steven, 39, launched a charity after their daughter's death, , to help other grieving families.
The couple want to provide practical advice and financial support to parents who have lost kids in similar circumstances.
Sister Dionne, who endured a bleed on the brain and spinal fracture which left her in a wheelchair for three months, also spoke of her .
The teen said her “heart broke in a way that can’t heal” after the tot’s death.
Last year the family called for a in the area in a petition to Perth and Kinross Council with more than 1,100 signatures.
Pirie was also banned from driving for seven years and must resit his driving test.
Lord Ericht told him: “Because of what you did, Harlow will never return home.”
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