A social media influencer has been sentenced to nine years in prison after a fatal collision caused while he was driving a car with known defective brakes.
A Catastrophic Failure to Heed Warnings
Leigh Sutherland, 31, was convicted at the High Court in Glasgow in October 2025 for causing the death of 77-year-old Margaret Allan by dangerous driving. The tragic incident occurred in June 2023 on the Condorrat Ring Road in Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire.
Despite being aware that the anti-lock braking system on his Ford Mondeo was not functioning, Sutherland chose to continue driving the vehicle. At the time of the collision, he was also found to have been speeding excessively and driving with an unsecured battery.
Callous Behaviour After the Crash
The court heard that Sutherland's conduct in the aftermath was deeply concerning. He initially walked away from the scene of the crash before being stopped by police. When questioned, he fabricated what Judge Thomas Hughes later described as "a cock and bull story", falsely claiming an unidentified Romanian man had been test-driving the car, which was for sale.
His lack of remorse extended further. Sutherland made derogatory comments about his victim and, while on remand, posted videos online about the crash. Judge Hughes condemned this behaviour as "totally inappropriate".
Margaret Allan had been driving her ten-year-old grandson home from school in her Peugeot 108. She sustained injuries in the collision and died the following month.
Sentencing and Condemnation
Passing sentence on Friday 9 January 2026, Judge Hughes stated that the problems with the braking system "must have been quite clear" to Sutherland. He criticised the defendant's "totally and utterly unacceptable" attitude, noting he had walked away "paying no regard to those you injured and left them to their fate".
Sutherland, who also uses the name Lee Sutherland and posted content dressing as a police officer and pretending to be a lawyer, was jailed for nine years. He was also disqualified from driving for 13 years and six months.
It was revealed that Sutherland had been banned from driving for six months just one week prior to the fatal crash. Police Scotland Sergeant Andy Coutts stated that Sutherland had shown "no remorse" and that their thoughts remained with Margaret Allan's dignified family.
