Not guilty plea to dangerous driving allegation

A ST Mary’s man has been accused of narrowly missing a pedestrian before driving the wrong way around a roundabout.

Tom McConnachie is charged with driving a car dangerously at high speeds on multiple roads on Boxing Day 2019.

Prosecutors allege he committed the offences on Longtown Street, Happyhillock Road, Fountainbleau Drive, Pitkerro Drive and Darvel Place. The 26-year-old, of St Columba Gardens, allegedly overtook stationary vehicles in a queue, drove at excessive speed on the opposing carriageway, caused oncoming vehicles to take evasive action and drove at 50mph in a 30mph zone.

McConnachie then allegedly caused a pedestrian crossing the road to take evasive action before driving the wrong way round a roundabout. It is also alleged he failed to stop when asked to do so by the police and drove without insurance.

At Dundee Sheriff Court, McConnachie had a plea of not guilty tendered on his behalf by defence solicitor Anika Jethwa. He is scheduled to stand trial in August.

A MAN accused of sexually assaulting women in homeless shelters will stand trial next year.

Darren Small, a prisoner of HMP Perth, allegedly committed sexual offences against four women between October and November this year.

Prosecutors allege Small assaulted the first woman by touching her on the body after seizing her on October 14 at the Lily Walker Centre, Ann Street. On November 7 on Arbroath Road, Small allegedly touched a second woman on the body.

A third woman was allegedly seized by the body before being repeatedly touched and kissed on the head by Small at Transform, Brewery Lane, on November 30.

The 34-year-old allegedly exposed himself to the same woman and a fourth woman on the same date at the same hostel.

Small adhered to pleas of not guilty when the case called for an intermediate diet at Dundee Sheriff Court. Sheriff Lorna Drummond fixed a trial for January.

DUNDEE’S Brewdog pub could be open for business again before too long – not to serve drinks, as pictured above, but as a vaccination centre.

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has thanked the co-founder of the company after an offer to use their closed bars as coronavirus vaccine hubs.

James Watt had tweeted Ms Sturgeon and UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock to suggest the craft beer company’s venues could be used to help roll out the vaccine quickly.

THE number of drivers issued with speeding tickets in Tayside has soared this year – despite the overall number of speeding offences going down.

Data obtained through a freedom of information request also revealed seven cops were issued with fixed penalty notices for speeding, and police vehicles were involved in 75 collisions.

Latest available figures from Police Scotland show the number of speeding tickets issued by officers in the region increased from 564 in 2019 to 692 this year.

There were 294 tickets issued for drivers speeding in a restricted area, and 398 tickets issued for other speeding offences.

The top speed recorded in 2020 was a motorist travelling at 125mph on the A90.

Despite the number of tickets being issued by officers increasing in 2020, the number of offences detected by speed cameras went down.

The number of offences picked up on speed cameras decreased from 12,236 last year to 6,370 in 2020 and the number of drivers whose offence went straight to prosecution dropped from 495 to 227, although Police Scotland said this could be down to a