The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)

Hit-and-run woman banned after collision with dad and baby.

Woman found guilty of driving while four times the limit

- GORDON CURRIE Suzanne Sellar arriving at court.

An accounts manager left a baby for dead after knocking him out of his father’s arms in a drunken hit-and-run.

The baby was left lying “like a starfish” on the road as his father was dragged along by Suzanne Sellar’s car and a bystander was struck by a wing mirror.

Sellar was found guilty of driving dangerousl­y and fleeing the scene of the accident while she was under the influence of alcohol.

She claimed she had downed more than a bottle of wine in the 40 minutes between the crash and when the police arrived at her home.

After she was found guilty yesterday, Perth Sheriff Court was told that Sellar, 49, had another conviction for drinkdrivi­ng from 2013.

Sheriff William Wood said: “It’s simply not plausible nor credible that she would not have been aware the collision had taken place.

“I’m satisfied she was driving dangerousl­y. This was a collision with a pedestrian that was sufficient to cause him to bang into the car.”

Sellar drove off after striking the man while he was holding his son and hitting a woman with the dislodged wing mirror. Another man, alongside the victim, had rushed to rescue his own child by sitting her on the car roof.

Witnesses told the trial that Sellar’s black Mini briefly slowed down after the collision before fleeing the scene.

Two of the witnesses drove around Perth until they found the car – still missing its wing mirror – parked outside Sellar’s home.

A 64-year-old grandfathe­r said: “We cruised around until we spotted the car. The driver got out and was taking shopping bags out of the car.

“Her words were slurred. My son said ‘you knocked down and could have killed my child’ and I believe she said ‘you shouldn’t have been standing in the middle of the road’.”

The 24-year-old victim said: “I got hit by a car when I was holding my son. He was one. He was in my hands. It was so quick.”

Another witness said she saw the baby lying on the road and told the trial: “I wasn’t really sure if he was alive or not. I just saw him lying there.”

Sellar, 49, Woodside Crescent, Perth, was found guilty of driving dangerousl­y and under the influence of alcohol at excessive speed in Murray Crescent, Perth, on April 28.

She collided with a pedestrian holding a child and injured both, as well as causing part of the vehicle to fly off and strike a woman.

She was also found guilty of driving while she nearly four times the alcohol limit and failing to stop after an accident. She was banned on an interim basis and sentence was deferred for reports.

“I wasn’t really sure if he was alive or not. WITNESS

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