A nurse who killed a grandmother head-on after a night shift has avoided jail, sparking criticism from the 72-year-old victim's family.
Janette Davidson, from Kelso, Roxburghshire, died in the crash on the B6397 near Floors Castle, in the market town, on the morning of November 11, 2022.
Angela Hislop, 48, was found guilty of driving her Mercedes into the wrong lane and crashing into the pensioner's car shortly before 9am, causing her death.
A three-day trial at Jedburgh Sheriff Court heard Hislop had worked a 12-and-a-half hour shift in the emergency department at Borders General Hospital and was on his way home when the accident happened.
But she denied at the hearing in November that she felt tired and thought she could drive just fine.
Passing sentence at Selkirk Sheriff Court yesterday (Mon), Sheriff Peter Paterson said: 'I strongly suspect you knew you were tired, but to some extent that is speculation.'
He was told Hislop now works Monday to Friday from 7.30am to 5.30pm and is given lifts to and from work by colleagues.
Angela Hislop (pictured), 48, was found guilty of driving her Mercedes into the wrong lane and crashing into the pensioner's car shortly before 9am, causing her death
Janette Davidson, from Kelso, Roxburghshire (pictured), died in the crash on the B6397 near Floors Castle, in the market town, on the morning of November 11, 2022
As a result, Sheriff Paterson tagged her, imposed a 12-month curfew, locking her in her Kelso home between 7pm and 6.30am and banned her from driving for 12 months.
He added: 'This is clearly a tragedy, especially for the victim's family – her husband and daughters – and something they will never get over.
“There is nothing this court can do or say that will bring any kind of comfort or reparation, and I accept that [Hislop] know that.
'The judge would be free to impose a custodial sentence, but I am not going to do that and there is a real alternative to that.'
But the family responded to Hislop and the “soft outcome” in a statement that said: “Every day we miss Janette – she was the most kind-hearted person and was a loving mother, wife, grandmother and friend.
“While we do our best to cherish the positive memories we have, we cannot help but remain devastated by the loss of so many milestones we missed with her.
'The manner of her death remains painful to us, only compounded by the trauma of what we felt was an unnecessary ordeal. To us, we feel this suggests the driver had no remorse and was only thinking about himself rather than doing the right thing.
“While we know that no punishment will ever bring Janette back, we believe that today's outcome is far too lenient and does not reflect our pain, Janette's value, or provide a lesson to others.
“Our priority now is to move forward in relative peace as we look to the future and try to continue to live with the same positivity and values that she lived by.
'We would like to thank everyone who has helped and supported us over the past two years – friends, family and beyond – and we now ask that our privacy is respected as we move forward.'
During the trial, Hislop, who suffered serious injuries in the crash, denied that she was unable to drive due to fatigue.
She had said she was excited because she was on annual leave and when asked if her window was half open, she replied: 'I always drive with the window open, that's a habit I have; I'm in menopause, I'm having hot flashes, it's unpleasant.'
The nurse was convicted by majority of causing death by careless driving, failing to observe proper observations and driving in the opposite lane when it was unsafe to do so.
