John Moore

Introduction

John Moore is a Scottish driver convicted by a jury of causing the death of Andrew McMenamin by driving dangerously on 17 May 2023. Moore was travelling at over 60mph through Main Street, Uddingston — in both a 20mph and a 30mph area — at around 11:30am in broad daylight in a built-up area, while on petition bail and uninsured, and struck the 79-year-old, described in court as a beloved father, at 27mph because Moore had not seen him crossing in time. Judge McCormick, sentencing on 18 September 2026, imposed six years and nine months’ imprisonment and disqualified Moore from holding a driving licence for twelve years .

Background Information

Moore had a prior conviction for dangerous driving, and was on petition bail and uninsured when he killed Mr McMenamin. Despite the jury’s unanimous verdict on dangerous driving, he persisted in the claim that his driving was merely careless — a claim the judge rejected as inconsistent with the evidence as a whole, the reaction of pedestrians who witnessed the driving and heard the vehicle speeding along Main Street, the video images and the forensic evidence. He had also provided the social worker preparing his report with a sanitised version of events .

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Convicted at trial of causing death by dangerous driving at more than 60mph through a 20mph town-centre street; jailed six years and nine months.

Judge McCormick catalogued the aggravation: excessive speed, the duration of the driving, the location, and repeated disregard for the speed limit, the road signs and the road markings. Mr McMenamin was struck at 27mph — the speed at which Moore’s car was still travelling when it hit him, after the grossly excessive speed at which Moore had been driving left him unable to notice the pedestrian crossing the road in time. The harm, the judge said, was fatal; Moore did offer what assistance he could at the scene, and remorse was expressed through his counsel at sentencing .

The victim’s daughter had travelled from abroad to be present during the trial and viewed the sentencing proceedings by video link; her victim impact statement described the effect the manner of her father’s death has had on her, and the judge expressed the hope that the trial had brought her some closure. For sentencing purposes the court ignored the condition of Moore’s vehicle, it having been agreed that it played no part in the collision, and assessed culpability at the upper end of range B under the guidelines. Judge McCormick also observed that “the immediate reaction of pedestrians witnessing your driving and hearing your vehicle as you sped along Main Street, Uddingston spoke volumes”, and told Moore there was no alternative to a substantial custodial sentence .

Public Reaction and Consequences

The sentence comprises six years and six months for causing death by dangerous driving, plus three months to reflect the bail aggravation, with a further 12-month term on a second charge served concurrently — six years and nine months in total, backdated to 14 August 2026. The twelve-year disqualification is among the longest that can follow a death-by-dangerous-driving conviction, and Moore will be required to sit and pass an extended driving test before he can drive again .

Current Status

Moore is serving a six-year-and-nine-month prison sentence imposed on 18 September 2026 after the jury’s unanimous verdict, with the term backdated to his August 2026 remand. He is disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for twelve years from the sentencing date, with any eventual return to driving conditional on passing an extended test .

Impact on Their Career/Life

The conviction on indictment for causing death by dangerous driving — following a prior dangerous-driving conviction and committed while on bail and uninsured — ends Moore’s life behind the wheel for the next twelve years at minimum. The judge’s published finding that his account to the social worker was sanitised, and that his insistence on “careless” rather than dangerous driving persisted through a unanimous jury verdict, now forms the standing judicial record of the driving that killed Andrew McMenamin .

Sources

• “HMA v John Moore” — Judiciary of Scotland sentencing statement, 18 September 2026: source