A CARELESS lorry driver ploughed into and killed a wheelchair-bound homeless man at a pedestrian crossing in Greenock.

Michael Havlin ran through a red light outside the Inverclyde Centre and his HGV hit helpless William McIntyre.

Victim Mr McIntyre, 41, was instantly dragged underneath Havlin's cab and crushed under the vehicle's tractor unit.

Emergency crews dashed to the horrific incident on Dalrymple Street and found that the disabled man had suffered massive abdominal and pelvic injuries.

He was rushed barely alive to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital but medics there were later resigned to switching off his life support machine.

Havlin, 54, pleaded guilty at Greenock Sheriff Court to causing Mr McIntyre's death through careless driving.

He failed to notice that the disabled man had legitimately entered the crossing on a 'green man' signal and that the vehicular traffic lights had switched to red.

Prosecutor Jennifer Harkins told the court: "The accused drove into and over the deceased, inflicting fatal injuries.

"Had he been paying due care and attention he would have seen the red light at the crossing used by Mr McIntyre.

"The deceased was knocked over and dragged under the tractor unit.

"The accused immediately stopped.

"The deceased was trapped in his wheelchair under the tractor unit.

"The accused was seen to be in a state of shock with his hands on his head at what had happened."

Havlin, who has no criminal record, caused the accident on the morning of November 1, 2017.

The court heard how the sky was overcast, road conditions wet with moderate traffic and that Mr McIntyre was wearing dark clothing.

He had just come out of the Inverclyde Centre, where he was residing at the time, and made to cross the road in his wheelchair at 11.40am.

Fiscal depute Miss Harkins said that due to a combination of the injuries he'd sustained, as well as pre-existing medical conditions, a 'decision was taken to withdraw medical treatment'.

She told the court that the degree of carelessness from Havlin 'could be categorised as quite low'.

The indictment against him states that he 'did fail to maintain proper observations of the road ahead and did fail to observe William McIntyre, then a wheelchair user, on a pedestrian crossing'.

The charge continued that he 'did fail to comply with the indication to stop given by a traffic signal at said pedestrian crossing and cause your vehicle to collide with William McIntyre causing him to be so severely injured that he died'.

Havlin's defence advocate said: "He has asked me to apologise on his behalf to the family of of Mr McIntyre.

"He bitterly regrets his lapse in concentration and expresses remorse which appears to be genuine and profound.

"He will have to live with the tragic consequences of his driving for the rest of his life, but appreciates that is nothing to what befell Mr McIntyre and his family."

Sheriff Andrew McIntyre deferred sentence on Havlin until next month.

The lawman said: "This was a very tragic incident."

Havlin has been banned from driving with immediate effect, with the length of his disqualification period to be determined at his sentencing hearing on April 15.