Driver banned for year after high-speed crash

A 22-YEAR- OLD man has been banned from driving for a year after he overturned the car he was driving, throwing three of his four passengers out of the vehicle.

Procurator fiscal Martina Eastwood told Fort William Sheriff Court Joe Watson, of Inverlochy Court, had been at McDonald’s in Fort William with friends on Friday August 5, 2016.

As he left to take them home to Caol, he turned left towards Lochyside.

A witness in the Farmfoods car park saw the car accelerate and called the police.

The court heard Watson drove at excessive speed, only slowing down past Soldier’s Bridge. He picked up speed again on the downward slope before his nearside front wheel hit the kerb, causing him to lose control of the vehicle.

It rotated 180 degrees before colliding with the opposite kerb, leaving the road and crashing into a hedge.

This impact caused three of his passengers to be thrown from the car and Watson and the other passenger ran to the Co- op in Caol for help. Watson wasn’t injured but two of his passengers required stitches with the other two suffering bruising and whiplash.

Solicitor Stephen Kennedy said Watson accepted full responsibility for the crash and that he was driving too fast. He added this was the first time Watson had driven with a full car and that he had apologised to his passengers.

Sheriff William Taylor also issued a community payback order of 300 hours of unpaid work to be completed over six months and a 12-month supervision requirement.

Watson will also have to re-sit an extended driving test.