The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Perth car dealer who flouted road ban gets two years added on
Man was initially banned over drink-driving collision
A director of a Perth car dealership has been banned from the road for five years and ordered to carry out unpaid work as an alternative to prison.
Christopher Dickson had already been disqualified from driving for 42 months after being found guilty of causing a road accident.
Ignoring the court order, he got back behind the wheel of his £37,000 Mercedes, only to be caught by police officers.
The 29-year-old, who earns £25,000 a year for his role with Dicksons of Perth, has now been told that one further misstep will see him lose his liberty.
Dickson was initially banned from the road in February after being found guilty after trial of causing an accident that left three young children screaming in terror.
He was over the legal alcohol limit as he aggressively tailed a family of five through the streets of Perth.
He cut in front of the group, who had been enjoying a Sunday outing, and slammed on his brakes, causing them to run into the back of his car.
He then burst from his vehicle to scream abuse at the family who were forced to lock themselves in their badly damaged car.
They faced a torrent of abuse and threats of violence as he hammered on the car’s windows and tried to haul open its doors. In the wake of the incident he fled to his home in Croft Park, Perth.
When police officers arrived, he downed a glass of wine in front of them and then claimed his subsequent positive breath test was a result of alcohol consumed after the accident.
During his trial he blamed poor driving on the part of the driver of the other car for the accident and branded the family liars.
His evidence was, however, wholly dismissed by a sheriff who warned then that he was on the cusp of imprisonment.
Despite that warning, he took the decision to flout the ban, leading to a guilty plea yesterday to a charge of driving without a licence and without insurance on Perth’s Balhousie Street on August 3.
Solicitor Pauline Cullerton said he accepted he had made “a rash and stupid decision” to drive that day.
Sheriff Lindsay Foulis told him: “You had been disqualified from driving for a very considerable period of time.
“That means permission to drive has been withdrawn and you cannot go on the road, no matter how you feel about that.
“You have to get it into your head that if you pay that prohibition little heed then at the end of the day this court will say enough is enough and you will lose your liberty. You cannot escape that.”
The sheriff placed Dickson on a community payback order requiring him to be under social work supervision for six months and undertake 150 hours of unpaid work.
He had been banned from holding a licence until May 2020 at the earliest but that period off the road will now be extended until 2022.
Permission to drive has been withdrawn and you cannot go on the road. SHERIFF LINDSAY FOULIS