Driver avoids losing licence

A defence agent asked for leniency for her client who pleaded guilty to careless driving on Islay because he had to attend hospital regularly.

Forty-four-year-old Steven Cameron ran the risk of losing his driving licence under the points ‘totting-up’ procedure, Campbeltown Sheriff Court heard last week. He admitted driving without due care and attention, at excessive speed, when overtaking another vehicle on the A846 near Lintmill Croft on the island on Wednesday April 21 last year, driving excessively closely, which caused the other driver to take evasive action to avoid a collision. Defence agent Edel McGinty said that Cameron, now living at 5 Elms Place, Beith, had to attend hospitals in Edinburgh and Greenock regularly for treatment.

Sheriff Patrick Hughes fined Cameron £320 and ordered four penalty points be added to his licence; Cameron kept his licence. But the sheriff warned: ‘This is a matter of concern to the court. There is a continual flow of accidents in this district and the majority are unsafe overtaking manoeuvres.’