Barra fisherman banned from road for two years

A BARRA fisherman accused of driving like a ‘lunatic’ has been disqualified for two years.

Oran Joseph Boyd, 18, of 9 Bayherivagh, Isle of Barra, admitted driving a van dangerously and at excessive speed in the wrong direction on the one-way George Street, Breadalbane Street and Dunollie Road in Oban on June 3, causing oncoming vehicles to take evasive action.

Boyd also admitted an earlier charge of careless driving on February 25 on the A85 at Arrivain near Tyndrum, where he was recorded driving at 101mph, exceeding the 60mph limit.

Sheriff Ruth Anderson QC asked Boyd’s defence agent Alastair Gray at Oban Sheriff Court last Wednesday: ‘What is going on with this young man? He is behaving like a lunatic.’

Mr Gray responded: ‘He fails to understand a driving licence is a privilege not a right. He has spent two nights in custody as a result of his behaviour. He accepts he behaved in an unacceptable manner. He has learned a valuable lesson.’

Sheriff Anderson told Boyd he was lucky to be in Oban Sheriff Court rather than the High Court facing a charge of death by dangerous driving.

She said: ‘This is exactly the kind of dangerous behaviour that can result in death. This fortunately was not the case here.’

She disqualified Boyd from driving for two years and fined him £600 for the first charge, and imposed a further £ 500 fine for the second, alongside a three-month disqualification to run concurrently. She also ordered him to re-sit his driving test.