A retired accountant who killed a lifelong friend and left another paraplegic after colliding with their motorbikes during a road trip to Scotland has been spared jail and told to “live his life anew” by a judge. Paul Shrubsole, 60, trembled in the dock as the judge told him he was being given a chance to live “in a way your friends and victims can’t”, more than three years after a fatal accident caused when his attention lapsed behind the wheel. The court heard Shrubsole, from Essex, has not driven since July 24, 2021, when he used hands-free to make a call while driving on the M74 in South Lanarkshire and collided with Julian Wiseman, 57, and Paul Allum – his lifelong friends from Kent University, one of whom was his best man.
The three men had travelled from the south of England when Shrubsole’s concentration lapsed as traffic slowed and he called one of his travel companions – striking the two motorcyclists with his Nissan Qashqai. Defending, Tony Graham KC told the court Shrubsole voluntarily surrendered his driving licence following the crash, describing him as an “unremarkable” man with an “unblemished” driving record and no previous convictions. Mr Wiseman died at the scene, while Mr Allum suffered spinal cord injuries which left him in a wheelchair, the court heard.
Shrubsole denied a charge of causing death by careless driving during a trial at the High Court in Glasgow, but was convicted. Mr Graham said: “On July 23, 2021, three men who ha.