Lorry driver killed £1,000,000 stallion after crashing into horse transporter

A driver who caused the death of four horses, including one valued at more than £1 million, when he crashed his lorry into the back of a transporter has been spared jail.

Justin Bower, 48, was behind the wheel of a 7.5-tonne truck on the A9 near Perth in Scotland when the hit the back of a stationary horsebox containing prize stallion Party Trick.

Eventing horse owner Nick Gauntlett had pulled over to the side of the road due to an engine issue, and told the court he turned on his hazards.

According to the Scottish Daily Mail, he described standing on a grass verge with his wife, children, two grooms and his fellow owner Sophie Hulme when the crash happened in April 2021.

British-based US rider Ms Hulme owned three of the horses in the transporter, while Mr Gauntlett owned nine-year-old Party Trick.

Police said two of the horses had died in the collision while the other two were later euthanised.

Mr Gauntlett told the court: ‘You might think it was only a horse, but it was my life.’

A jury unanimously found Bower guilty of causing serious injury to his co-diver Ashley Vandervis by dangerous driving in April.

He returned to Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court for sentencing.

Sheriff Robert More imposed a community payback order with 220 hours of unpaid work and a two-year driving ban which would stay in affect until Bower passes the extended test.

In a Facebook post after the crash, Mr Gauntlett said describing it as a ‘tough day’ is ‘maybe an understatement’.

He wrote that his family had broken down 30 minutes from the Land Rover Blair Castle International Horse Trials, and were sitting on the grass verge when they watched the lorry ‘plough into our truck’.

The horse owner added: ‘You don’t need the details but we lost all 4 horses on board. We are obviously all heart broken.’

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