article: Vincent Friel crashed into Charlotte Collins, 68, and her cousin Margaret Haldane, 69, near Silverburn shopping centre in Glasgow on 18 January 2014. Ms Collins died shortly afterwards and Ms Haldane was seriously injured. Friel, 44, from Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, was also banned from driving for five years. Jailing Friel at the High Court in Glasgow, judge John Morris QC told him: "You were a normal respectable member of the community until the date of this accident. "I take into account the exceptionally slow speed your vehicle was travelling at. However, you drove through a pedestrian crossing on a red light causing the death of one lady and injuring another. "Miss Collins relatives have lost a much loved family member. The effect on the families has been devastating. No sentence I can pass will assuage such devastation. No sentence passed by a judge will ever be viewed by the families as adequate." The court previously heard that Friel's Range Rover ploughed into the women at a pedestrian crossing in Barrhead Road. Friel, who owns a property letting business employing 20 people, was taking blood pressure medication at the time of the collision. He had also been prescribed Viagra and medicine to take away headaches that were brought on by having sex. His lawyers claimed the combined medicine caused his blood pressure to drop to such a low level as to cause him to faint and he was not in control of his actions at the time. The court heard from one doctor, described as a world-renowned expert in his field, who said it was "likely or possible" that Friel had suffered a "vasovagal" episode, another term for a faint. However, cardiologist Dr Andrew Flapan told jurors he thought it was "extremely unlikely" that Friel had fainted at the wheel of his 4x4. He pointed to the fact Friel looked normal after the crash and was able to reverse his car off one of the women and use his mobile phone to call for an ambulance, saying he would not be able to do these things for at least 20 minutes after fainting. A jury of nine women and six men took just one hour and 40 minutes to find Friel guilty of causing the death of Ms Collins and the serious injury of Miss Haldane by driving dangerously.
summary: A man who was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving after jurors rejected claims that he fainted at the wheel has been jailed for three years.