A driver killed two of his friends when he struck their car as they returned from holiday together in Lanzarote.

Alexander McCabe, 30, of Quarryside, Dundee, was driving his Mercedes with relatives in the passenger seats when he ploughed into the back of a Vauxhall Corsa with Marc Edwards and Jenna Tindall in it.

The Corsa was shunted into a Vauxhall Vivaro van being driven in the opposite direction.

They had all been driving home to Dundee from Newcastle Airport when the crash happened at the A68 junction with the A720 near Edinburgh on July 18 last year.

Two men in the van, Jonathan Walker and Keiron Wilcox, were injured in the collision.

McCabe earlier pleaded guilty at Edinburgh Sheriff Court to causing the deaths of Mr Edwards, 26, and 29-year-old Ms Tindall by careless driving.

He was ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work in a year, disqualified from driving for two and a half years and told to resit the driving test.

Sentencing McCabe, sheriff Michael O'Grady told him: "The word 'tragedy' is nowadays very much overused but it is the word that inevitably and justifiably springs to mind when considering these events.

"The consequences of this offence have been truly horrendous which will live with the families of the deceased, and indeed you, for the rest of their lives."

McCabe, he said, had not been affected by drink or drugs and had not deliberately driven in a reckless fashion.

The sheriff added McCabe's expressions of regret and remorse were genuine and heartfelt and he would carry the guilt for the rest of his life.