A BOROUGH man who killed his best friend in a crash will have to wait to hear his sentence after the conclusion of his trial.

The tragic incident happened in July 2021 during a charity bike ride in Scotland involving Paul Shrubsole, 60, and his friend and crash victim Julian Wiseman, 57.

The pair are well-known in the borough, particularly among the local footballing community and together had set up Grays Athletic Walking Football Club.

Shrubsole has been found guilty of using his mobile phone while driving his Nissan Qashqai on the M74, near Lesmahagow, and killing his friend after crashing into his motorbike in South Lanarkshire.

His car also hit his friend Paul Allum's motorbike and left him with life-changing injuries. Mr Allum now requires the use of a wheelchair and relies on the assistance of two support workers.

The High Court in Glasgow heard Shrubsole used his hands free mobile device to make a call moments before the fatal collision.

A jury convicted him of causing the death of Mr Wiseman by careless driving.

The group had been driving in a convoy from England to Scotland on a trip.

Mr Wiseman and Mr Allum had driven ahead of Shrubsole's Qashqai.

Jurors heard how Shrubsole made a number of calls from his phone on the afternoon of the accident, one of which was to Mr Allum.

The BBC have reported on the case, where Prosecutor Chris Wilson told the court: "Twenty seconds. That's the period of time he failed to react to the lights of the flowing traffic ahead of him."

The charge states Shrubsole "failed to react to motor vehicles slowing in the lane ahead" and caused his car to collide with Mr Wiseman's motorbike.

It then struck Mr Allum's motorbike and a car.

A witness reported seeing one of the bikers being "thrown into the air."

Shrubsole will be sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow next month after Judge Lord Arthurson deferred sentence until next month pending background reports.

The judge said: "The jury found you guilty of an extremely serious offence in this utterly tragic case.

"All options are available to me including custody and I will disqualify you from driving."

Amny tributes were paid to Mr Wiseman at the time of this death: https://thurrock.nub.news/news/tributes/tribute-to-a-39kind-caring-compassionate39-man-who-was-much-loved