SENTENCING STATEMENTS

On sentencing Lord Colbeck made the following remarks in court:

"Stephen McGuire, on 3 October 2024 you pled guilty (by way a section 76 indictment) to charges of (1) reset of a motor vehicle; (2) causing the death of Ryan Wheeler and serious injury to Jenna O’Hara, by your dangerous driving; (3) causing the death of Ryan Wheeler whilst driving without a licence and without insurance; and (4) driving whilst disqualified. Each of those four offences were aggravated by being committed whilst you were on bail – you having been granted bail on 29 March 2021 at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

The circumstances of the offence and the tragic consequences of your frankly appalling driving were narrated to the court in detail when the case last called. Put short, on the evening of 26 February 2023, whilst driving a stolen car, whilst highly impaired by your consumption of alcohol and drugs and whilst travelling at speed you attempted an overtaking manoeuvre when it was not safe to do so and collided first with an oncoming car and then with the car you had overtaken.

As a result of the collision, Ryan Wheeler, who had been seated in the rear offside passenger seat of the car you had been driving, sustained multiple injuries and died instantly and Jenna O’Hara, who had been seated in the rear nearside passenger seat, was seriously injured. All three vehicles involved in the collision were extensively damaged.

Following the collision you were abusive to police officers, uncooperative and, it seems, more interested in an injury to your hand than the awful consequences for two of your passengers. Your unwillingness to admit at the scene that you were driving that night reflects badly on you.

You are 21 years of age. You have 15 previous convictions, those being for road traffic offences and for offences involving dishonesty, violence and public disorder. All but one of those convictions were aggravated by being committed whilst you were on bail. You have been sentenced to detention on two previous occasions – the first of which was in October 2020 (when you were only 17 years old).

In August 2022 you were disqualified from driving for a period of 16 months, that for dangerous driving. You have never held a driving licence.

I have regard to all that is said in the criminal justice social work report and to all that has been said on your behalf by Mr McKenna.

When the case last called, your counsel told the court that you recognised the consequences of your actions.

There is nothing I can say or do, and there is no sentence any court could pass, that can compensate for Mr Wheeler’s death. When you have served the sentence I will impose you will be able to return to your family and move on with your life, while the appalling loss suffered by Mr Wheeler’s family and friends will endure.

The effect of what you did that evening is truly awful – the pain you have inflicted on Ryan’s family is movingly explained in the victim statement provided by his sister.

The gravity of the crimes you have committed are 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.

Seriousness

The first step in sentencing is an assessment of the nature and seriousness of the offence. Two things determine the seriousness of an offence: the culpability of the offender and the harm caused, or which might have been caused, by the offence.

For two of the offences to which you have pled guilty, the law has fixed the level of harm, which is that death has been caused. In relation to those offences, the seriousness of the offence is, therefore, largely determined by your level of culpability.

I recognise that you did not intend to cause harm, however, the quantity of alcohol and drugs you consumed and the speed at which you were travelling are each redolent of someone who was utterly reckless as to whether harm was caused. The fact that you were driving a stolen car compounds matters.

The risks inherent in driving at speed whilst highly impaired by the consumption of alcohol are self-evident. You either knew, or should have known, of the risks that might arise from your actions. I have regard also to your age at the time of your plea of guilty, as I am required to do.

The sentencing guideline in respect of “Statutory offences of causing death by driving” sets out a number of features relevant to the assessment of seriousness.

In your case, you were grossly impaired through the voluntary consumption of alcohol and drugs and were involved in a prolonged and deliberate course of bad or aggressive driving, with a disregard for the danger being caused to others - both are Level A features.

Charge [002] is one that is properly regarded as a Level A offence in terms of its seriousness, as has been accepted on your behalf today. That assessment provides, again by way of the death by driving guideline, a sentencing range of 7 – 12 years custody.

Aggravating & mitigating factors

I then require considering the aggravating and mitigating factors present in this case.

In terms of aggravating factors, serious injury was caused to another person; you have relevant previous convictions (including a previous conviction for dangerous driving); and other offences were committed at the same time.

In terms of mitigating factors, I accept that there is considerable remorse on your part.

Young person guideline

I recognise that, generally, as a young person you are likely to have a lower level of maturity, and a greater capacity for change and rehabilitation, than an older person.

Your behaviour on the evening of 26 February 2023 is highly suggestive of a lack of maturity; of someone who is less able to exercise good judgement when making decisions; is less able to think about what could happen as a result of their actions; and who takes more risks.

That the duration of a sentence imposed on a young person should be different from that which might be imposed on an older person being sentenced for the same, or a similar, offence is to recognise factors such as these.

Section 3ZB

In addition to the offence under sections 1 and 1A of the Road Traffic Act 1988, you also pled guilty to a contravention of section 3ZB of that Act – that is charge [003].

That offence is also covered by the sentencing guideline in respect of “Statutory offences of causing death by driving”. As you were driving whilst uninsured and unlicensed, this offence is a Level B one, in terms of seriousness. That, in turn, gives a sentencing range of a Level 1 to a Level 2 community payback order.

In light of the sentence I have decided to impose in respect of charge [002], I do not propose to follow the guideline in respect of charge [003]. To do so would be impractical.

Reset / Driving Whilst Disqualified

There are, at present, no sentencing guidelines applicable in Scotland to the crimes of reset and driving whilst disqualified.

In relation to charge [001], reset of the motor vehicle that you were driving at the time of the offences, by your own admission to the social worker who prepared the report for the benefit of the court, you and your friends took turns driving vehicles they had reset. You accept knowing that the vehicle was stolen and that it bore false plates in an attempt to disguise that fact. As such, your culpability is high.

In terms of harm, I accept that in ordinary course the degree of harm in a case of reset will be low and I proceed on that basis here – the harm caused by you was not connected with the reset.

In respect of charge [004], driving whilst disqualified, again, you knew that you had been disqualified from driving – that was only 6 months before the present offences. You decided to drive that evening. There are no mitigating circumstances. Again, your culpability is high.

The position in relation to harm is that as someone who has never held a driving licence there was clearly some risk of harm to other road users, however, the harm here came by the manner of your driving, not the fact that you drove. I proceed on the basis that the degree of harm is low in respect of charge [004].

Sentences

Had you been convicted after trial, I would have imposed sentences of (i) 10 months’ imprisonment in relation to charge [001], that of reset, of which 3 months would have been attributed to the bail aggravation; (ii) 10 years’ imprisonment in relation to charge [002], that of causing death and serious injury by dangerous driving, of which 12 months would have been attributed to the bail aggravation; (iii) in light of the sentence I would have imposed on charge [002], I would have admonished you on charge [003], that of causing death by driving whilst uninsured and unlicensed; and (iv) 14 months imprisonment in relation to charge [004], that of driving whilst disqualified, of which 4 months would have been attributed to the bail aggravation.

Had these sentences been made to run consecutive to each other, the result would have been what I regard as an excessive custodial term of 12 years’ imprisonment. I will reduce that term to a headline sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment, by way of imposing these sentences and making those on charges [001] and [004] run concurrently to that imposed on charge [002].

Reduction for guilty plea

The law requires me to allow you credit for your guilty plea. Having regard to the timing of your plea, and taking account of your conduct in evading the police for almost 6 months, I will allow a reduction of 20% to the sentences imposed – that reduces the sentence I impose to one of 8 years imprisonment. That sentence will run from 8 May 2024 when you were first remanded in custody in relation to this matter.

Disqualification

In addition, in respect of charge [002] you will be disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for a period of 12 years and until you have passed the extended driving test.

For the avoidance of any doubt, the 12-year disqualification comprises a period of 8 years (reduced from 10 years) that I impose in relation to the offence, and a further 4 years by way of the extension period, which I am required to add in terms of section 35C of the 1988 Act.

In respect of charge [003], you will be disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for a period of 12 months, the statutory minimum period of disqualification for this offence.

In respect of charge [004], you will be disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for a period of 15 months.

For the avoidance of any doubt, the 15 month disqualification comprises 8 months (reduced from 10 months) that I impose in relation to the offence, and a further 7 months by way of the extension period.

The periods of disqualification on charges [003] and [004] will run concurrently to that imposed on charge [002].

 20 November 2024