A banned drink-driver has been remanded in custody after killing a much-loved grandmother in a crash as she returned home from the theatre.
How he got banned
Dawid Zywicki already had 15 road traffic convictions when he got behind the wheel of his Ford Fiesta van on March 27 last year.
How he crashed into the granny
The 28-year-old had been going at speed when he ended up crashing head-on into a private hire taxi in which Margaret Pearson, 75, was a passenger.
She did not survive the crash in Glasgow’s Haghill.
Another casualty
A man fixing his tyre at the side of the road was also hit and badly hurt.
Zywicki pleaded guilty to a charge of causing death and serious injury by dangerous driving.
Before she met her death
Prosecutor Gavin Anderson, KC, told the High Court in Glasgow that Mrs Pearson had spent that evening with her friend at the city’s King’s Theatre.
They then shared a taxi home – her friend was dropped off first, leaving the pensioner in the back.
He was riding fast like ‘flash’
Mr Anderson told the court: ‘The taxi driver saw the headlights of the oncoming van.
He later described Zywicki’s approach as ‘being fast, like motorway speed’.
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’Zywicki, who has never held a full driving licence and was also not wearing a seatbelt, had gone onto the opposite side of the road before ploughing into the black Mercedes.
This caused the taxi to spin and hit Kevin O’Neill and his Ford Focus. Mr O’Neill, 56, had been trying to repair a puncture.
Her complications
Emergency crews took the unconscious Mrs Pearson to hospital where it was found she had suffered bleeding around the brain and a spinal fracture.
The mother of five and grandmother of seven died on March 31.Mr O’Neill needed surgery for serious injuries to his left leg and was in hospital for five days.
The court heard Zywicki was found to have not less than 179mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood.
The legal limit is 50mg.
Mr Anderson further explained that Zywicki had been banned from driving in July 2019.
