Driver is fined over lamppost smash

Court told man left house party to avoid confrontation

A dozy driver wrapped his motor around a lamppost after fleeing a house party, a court has been told.

Robert Metcalfe, 20, pranged his Renault Megane into the streetlight with such force it bent the pole and dislodged the base, as well as mangling his own car

Paisley Sheriff Court heard residents were woken by the sound of a loud bang when Metcalfe lost control of his motor at Falside Road in the early hours of the morning.

Fiscal depute Hazel Emmerson said: “At around 1.45am on October 7, last year, witnesses living next to the locus heard a loud bang coming from outside.

“They looked out the window and observed a red motor vehicle, which was extensively damaged, had collided with the lamppost.

“The attended and accused appeared to be dazed. He had alcohol in his system. Witnesses could smell it coming from him.

“The car had hit the lamppost heavily.

“There was damage to the driver’s side of the vehicle. The lamppost had been hit so hard the base had come out of the ground.

“Police attended quite quickly and he was very apologetic.

“He said ‘I am just glad I never killed anyone.’”

Yesterday Metcalfe, of the town’s Alloway Drive, pleaded guilty to a charge of driving without due care and attention and without reasonable caution on the road, losing control and striking the lamppost.

However, his not guilty plea to a charge of drink-driving was accepted by the Crown.

A defence agent said: “He is 20 and has only had his driving licence for a few months.

“He had been a house party at a friend’s house.

“His intention was to leave the car.

“Unfortunately while at the party there was an individual who became aggressive and abusive towards him and he decided it would be better for him to absent himself from the party.

“He admits he had been drinking but his primary concern was to avoid confrontation with this individual.”

The lawyer added Metcalfe, who tends tables at Nandos, was lucky to have emerged unscathed, and when householders came out to the crash, he walked over to them in admission of his guilt.

Sheriff David Pender fined the first offender £300 and placed six points on his licence.