7 days ago
Vodka-fuelled stock car racer who killed beloved grandad pictured back at motoring event
"It's disgusting my brother lost his life, we lost a brother, a dad, a grandad, a husband while he hasn't even served two years and is back at the stock car racing."
A stock car driver who killed a beloved grandad in a vodka-fuelled crash has been pictured at a motoring event just two years after he was jailed.
Marc Fortune, 30, smashed into the back of 63-year-old John King's vehicle when his young grandkids were in the car in 2020, hours after he was spotted knocking back drinks at a race day.
He fled the scene leaving John to die while one of the children, who suffered injuries in the incident, alerted the emergency services.
Fortune was found guilty of death by dangerous driving in 2023 and locked up for six years, but his victim's family were left devastated to learn he was spotted at Cowdenbeath Racewall on Sunday - just miles from where they family live in Lochgelly.
John's brother, James, 66, told the Record: "We haven't heard anything from the Scottish Prison Service and this is disgusting. I have had to break this news to John's wife Ann and she still isn't over his death.
"She was just dumbfounded and furious when I told her. My brother lost his life, his family lost a dad, a grandad and a husband. Fortune hasn't even served two years and has barely shown any remorse at all for his actions.
"Now he's back at the stock car racing, at a similar event to the one he was drinking at that night, without a shred of respect for what he has done.
"We can actually hear the car engines at it because it is just a stone's throw from our homes.
"It's really awful we have to be dragged through this again and it would be devastating and really traumatic if we had bumped into him out in the street before being told he is allowed out.
"I don't know how we can continue on with our lives knowing he is on our doorstep without serving even half of his sentence."
John's niece, Laura King, 39, added that she is "disgusted" to hear Fortune is back around cars again.
She said: "It's barely two years since his conviction. I'm absolutely dumbfounded."
John, who had served in the Falkland Islands with the Royal Navy, passed away after suffering extensive injuries when Fortune forced his car off the road before it spun down an embankment on the A92 near Cowdenbeath in September 2020.
Fortune was banned from the road for 10 years along with his custodial sentence, but it is understood he has since been on home leave after being moved to the open prison at HMP Castle Huntly.
He was pictured attending the Formula One Stock car racing event at Cowdenbeath Racehall last weekend.
In the photo shared with the Record, he appears to be working on his dad John Fortune's vehicle - which has their surname spray painted across its side.
His dad went on to win the race.
A source told the Daily Record there was a general feeling of "discomfort and anger" when people recognised the drink-driving killer at the event.
They said: "A friend spotted him working on his dad's car. I couldn't believe it at first. I thought he was still inside.
"I couldn't bear thinking about the distress the family would feel when they found out he was out enjoying himself. There was a lot of ill feeling around the area in light of what happened to John King so the community was shocked he was so brazen showing his face.
"So much for justice being served."
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First offender Fortune was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow.
During his trial the judge paid tribute to the "incredible fortitude" of John's grandchild for managing to call the emergency services.
Prosecutor Richard Goddard KC said: "With remarkable courage and presence of mind, he dialled 999. He was highly distressed, but able to remain on the phone and describe the road he had travelled to allow the emergency services to locate him.
He was able to describe the condition of (John) and the other child. Towards the end of the call, he approached the road and used his mobile phone torch to successfully guide police."
A Scottish Prison Service spokesperson said: 'We do not on individuals.'
