A banned driver who killed his girlfriend in a crash after falling asleep at the wheel has been jailed.
Edward Carty, 31, allowed the car he was driving to drift and veer off the A90 road near Errol, Perthshire.
It went down an embankment and hit trees, killing Rebecca Tasker, 32.
Carty had driven for about 14 hours on a cross-country road trip from Arbroath, Angus, to Lochinver, Sutherland, and back before tragedy struck.
Jailing him for five years and three months at the High Court in Edinburgh, Judge Lord Young said the consequences of the crash were ‘devastating’.
Rebecca Tasker (pictured) was pronounced dead after suffering spinal and neck injuries.
Edward Carty, 31, allowed the car he was driving to drift and veer off the A90 road near Errol, Perthshire
Jailing Carty for five years and three months at the High Court in Edinburgh (pictured), Judge Lord Young said the consequences of the crash were ‘devastating’.
He added: ‘Rebecca Tasker was a young woman who was part of a close and loving family.’
Lord Young said her two young children were physically uninjured in the crash but they must now grow up without a mother to care for them.
Carty, of Blackburn, Lancashire, earlier admitted causing the death of Ms Tasker on August 12, 2022, by driving dangerously.
Her children, aged seven and ten, were pulled from the car and another passenger, a teenage friend of Carty, also escaped unharmed. Ms Tasker was pronounced dead after suffering spinal and neck injuries.
Carty, who was injured and suffered a stroke, later posted on the social media app TikTok that he had fallen asleep.
Defence solicitor advocate Brian Bell said: ‘He has asked me to express his genuine remorse for the consequences of his deliberate driving on that particular day.’
He said his client and Ms Tasker had been in a relationship for about six weeks when the incident occurred.
The court heard that Carty has previous convictions for driving without a licence, without insurance and while disqualified, as well as for offences of violence and dishonesty. He was banned from driving for nine years and four months.