An Aberlour man who admitted causing the death of a friend is facing nine years in jail following his sentencing at the High Court in Edinburgh.
Offshore worker Murray Geddes, 37, admitted causing the death of childhood friend Graeme McKenzie when he appeared at the court in November.
The court had heard how on May 16 this year Geddes overtook another vehicle on the A941 Craigellachie to Rothes road when it was unsafe to do so, and subsequently lost control of his Audi S3.
Geddes had told police that he drove his car from a pub car park that day because he was “fed up waiting for a taxi”.
The friends had been drinking in the Aberlour Hotel just a few miles from the scene of the accident. Witness Maureen Imray told the court that she became aware of the Audi driving close behind her: “The car just pulled out and passed me. I would say it was just like a speed demon.
“It was such a crazy piece of driving that the dust from the road surface was being thrown up into the air to about the height of the trees. I really do not know what possessed him to drive like that.”
The court was told that crash investigators describe how Geddes failed to maintain a proper line through a bend before his car hit a road sign, went into a ditch and hit a tree stump.
Judge Lord Glennie said in sentencing Geddes that he accepted the genuine remorse he had shown and would have passed down a sentence of 11 years had it not been for his guilty plea.
Geddes was also banned from driving for 12 years and told that the ban would remain in place until he had passed a test.