Worker needed plastic surgery after 'careless' crash at Perth Airport
A coffin factory worker needed plastic surgery to his face after he was struck by a van at Perth Airport and thrown through the air.
The 61-year-old was hit as he walked to work on the morning of October 3 2022.
Perth Sheriff Court heard how the pedestrian's head smashed off the windscreen of a silver Renault Trafic driven by Methven man Paul Wishart.
Witnesses told how they heard a car revving before seeing the victim 'flying across the road'.
Wishart, 37, denied a charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
But after a two-day trial, jurors took less than an hour to convict him of a lesser charge of driving carelessly.
Court papers state the crash left the victim seriously injured and permanently impaired.
Wishart, of Sauchob Crescent, will be sentenced later this summer.
The jury heard how Wishart had failed to observe the pedestrian as he crossed Spitfire Avenue, having stepped off a bus on the nearby A94.
The victim was 'propelled' through the air and landed on the carriageway.
Emergency services were scrambled to the scene just after 7am and the injured man was rushed to Ninewells Hospital.
The busy commuter route was closed off for about an hour.
Fiscal depute Jennifer Bairner read out a list of the victim's injuries, as recorded in a joint minute of agreed facts.
He suffered rib fractures, a cut to the right side of his face and a broken knee.
His left middle finger was also dislocated.
Ms Bairner said the victim underwent an operation to fix his knee, which involved a plate being inserted by an orthopaedic surgeon.
'The facial laceration was cleaned, sealed and closed by a plastic surgeon,' she said.
The man was discharged from hospital five days later.
Witnesses told the court of chaotic scenes in the aftermath of the early morning smash, with blood in the middle of the roadway.
Ms Bairner said in her closing statement to jurors: 'It is not suggested that Mr Wishart intended to hurt anyone.
'But as a driver, you need to drive safely.'
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