Motorist shocked antiterror police by driving wrong way up the A9

COURT: Driver banned and fined for error while looking for petrol station

Anti-terror police had to take evasive action when a car was driven towards them at high speed on the dual carriageway by a driver blindly following his satnav.

Iomhar – pronounced Ivor – MacKenzie took a U-turn off a slip road and drove into oncoming traffic at 70mph on a notorious stretch of the A9.

One of the vehicles which had to pull out of his way contained anti-terrorism officers on their way to the High Court in Glasgow, a court heard yesterday.

MacKenzie, 50, an insurance loss adjustor, claimed he was following the instructions of his satnav as he turned north on to the southbound dual carriageway.

He told Perth Sheriff Court he had a lifelong ritual of topping up his tank when it was quarter full and was aiming to get to a filling station on the opposite side of the A9 before he reached that level.

Detective Constable Andrew McLennan, 36, of the Organised Crime and Counter-Terrorism unit in Dundee, told the court he was shocked to see MacKenzie’s Skoda Octavia speeding towards him in the outside lane.

He said: “It wasn’t crawling towards us. It was travelling at a reasonable speed – probably about the speed limit. We turned the blue lights and siren on and noted it turned around quickly. The next we saw was the vehicle passing us in the outside lane.”

MacKenzie said: “I always refuel when the car is at a quarter tank. I glanced at my satnav. The satnav said I had to make a turn to go to the filling station. I performed a U-turn in order to head north to the filling station.

“I came on to what I thought was a single carriageway and the road was completely empty. All of a sudden I saw a car coming towards me. This car flashed its lights.

“I became aware of the gravity of my mistake. I realised what I had done and the potential dangerousness. I got a terrible fright.

“It’s quite an alarming experience. I admit I made a mistake.”

MacKenzie, Wardlaw Terrace, Edinburgh, was found guilty of driving dangerously by going the wrong way on the A9 on March 29.

He was banned from driving for 12 months and fined £400.

It’s quite an alarming experience. I admit I made a mistake. IOMHAR MACKENZIE

Iomhar MacKenzie leaves Perth Sheriff Court after being sentenced yesterday.