The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Businessmen banned over supercar speeding
Apair of prominent Tayside businessmen have been banned from driving after speeding at almost 100mph on a scenic Highland road in highperformance supercars.
Dundee company director, Walter Milne, 57, whose firm Metaltech was involved in the construction of the city’s under-fire £32 million Olympia swimming pool, was clocked by police with speed guns travelling at 95mph on a 60mph stretch of the A890 near Glencarron in his £300,000 Mclaren 675LT.
Carnoustie car dealership boss Steven Brown, 38, was also caught breaking the limit in his £164,000 Lamborghini during the high-speed road trip, along with Milne’s brother Callum, 49, in his £100,000 Porsche 911 GTS, and engineer Finlay Coghill, 25, in a £40,000 BMW M240i.
Walter Milne’s solicitor, Ian Sievwright, told Inverness Sheriff Court his client’s company was “struggling financially” due to the pandemic.
But Sheriff Gary Aitken replied: “He still has the car so his financial difficulties can’t be that bad.”
Callum Milne, of Baldovan, Dundee, was not present – as he has tested positive for Covid-19 – but was represented by solicitor Rory Gowans.
Mr Gowans said: “He has changed his manner of driving and no longer has the Porsche. He now has a Land Rover.”
Steven Farmer, solicitor for Brown, of Main Street, Barry, said: “The car was sold almost immediately after this offence and there has been no further offending since.”
More than a year after the offence, Brown posted a video on Youtube showing off the Lamborghini Huracan’s launch control.
Coghill’s agent, Ronnie Simpson, told the sheriff: “He is a first offender and he was at the back of the group.”
Sheriff Aitken asked him: “Was he just some young idiot thinking he can keep up with them?”
Mr Simpson replied: “No, he is certainly not.
“He has changed his vehicle to a Ford Fiesta. This was a one-off incident.”
All four admitted driving carelessly at 95mph on a one-and-a-half mile stretch of the A890 on April 27 2019.
Brown – who owns Augustus Autos – was banned from driving for six weeks and fined £1,400 as he had a previous road traffic conviction committed just two months before the A890 offence.
Walter Milne, of Rosemill Road, Bridgefoot, his brother Callum and Coghill, of Meadow Croft, Kinmuck, Inverurie, were each fined £1,000 and disqualified for four weeks.
Sentencing the drivers, Sheriff Aitken said: “You were all half again as much as the speed limit. It shows a total disregard for other road users.”
An original charge had accused them of dangerously driving at more than 120mph, which would have entitled the sheriff to seize the cars.
Sheriff Aitken added: “If you had still been on the original charge, I would have been entitled to forfeit your vehicles. You are extremely lucky that this (lesser) charge was accepted by the Crown.”