Man who caused deaths of friends in horror crash handed another road ban after driving motorbike drunk
A motorist who caused the death of three school friends in a horror crash 12 years ago has been banned from the road after admitting to driving a motorbike while drunk.
Robbie Gemmell, then aged 16, was behind the wheel of his pal’s Peugeot 206 when he lost control and ploughed the car into a brick wall on a country road in East Lothian in 2013.
Gemmell initially claimed he was a front seat passenger and car owner Jenna Barbour had been driving, but he later broke down and confessed after an investigation proved he was the driver.
The crash that shook the community in Dunbar, East Lothian, claimed the lives of Jenna, 18, along with fellow passengers Joshua Stewart, 16, and 15-year-old David Armstrong.
Gemmell dodged a jail term and was sentenced to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work and a four year road ban after admitting to causing his three friends’ death by driving without due care and attention.
Now 28, Gemmell was back in the dock at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Monday November 24 where he pleaded guilty to driving a motorcycle while almost four times over the drink drive limit.
The court was told Gemmell had been drinking alcohol when an argument broke out between him and his former partner at his home in Dunbar, East Lothian, on May 13 this year. He swung a punch at the woman that missed and after she left the property to attend at her mother’s nearby home Gemmell had followed her on his Honda motorbike.
The court heard Gemmell had shouted obscenities at the pair while outside the property and had headbutted the front door.After the abusive and aggressive behaviour was reported to the police Gemmell was said to have threatened the women by shouting “f***ing call the police, I’ll be back tonight”.
He was picked up by officers shorty after and admitted to them he had driven his motorbike that day. He provided the officers with a breath test and the reading was 82mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is just 22mg.
Gemmell pleaded guilty to charges including attempted assault, behaving in a threatening or abusive manner and driving a vehicle while over the alcohol limit at various locations in Dunbar on May 13 this year.
Sheriff Adrian Fraser imposed an interim driving ban and deferred full sentence on Gemmell to next month.
Gemmell has previously escaped a road ban after he was convicted of driving without due care and attention by colliding with a roundabout just three miles away from where his friends were killed.
He admitted driving at excessive speeds and losing control of the vehicle where he was left injured at Thistly Cross Roundabout, on the outskirts of Dunbar, on April 16, 2021.
He appeared in court in December the following year where Sheriff Wendy Sheehan placed eight penalty points on his licence and fined him a total of £640.
Following that court appearance, Susan Stewart, who lost her son Joshua in the crash in 2013, slammed the sentence claiming Gemmell was “a menace” who deserves a life ban from driving.
Susan said: “He should have been banned from driving. After the deaths of three people, he should’ve got a lifetime ban. He’s either going to kill another driver, someone else in his car, or himself. The guy is a menace on the road.”