No jail for driver over crash
A 22-year-old man has escaped a jail term despite a sheriff telling him his dangerous driving had“crossed the custody threshold”.
Perth Sheriff Court was told that Adam McDonald was seen driving his van at high speeds near Almondbank and undertaking other vehicles.
He failed to maintain lane discipline and as he overtook another car, he lost control before demolishing two metres of fencing. The car then hit a wall before coming to rest back on the road. The vehicle was a write-off.
McDonald , who had been drinking the previous evening and hadn’t had much sleep, will have to complete 160 hours of unpaid work as a“direct alternative”to a jail term. He was also banned for 20 months and will have to re-sit the extended driving test.
He admitted driving dangerously on the A85 Crieff-Perth road on March 24, 2021, by repeatedly travelling at excessive speed for the road conditions.
He also left the road at one point, colliding with the fence and wall.
A not guilty plea was accepted to a second charge of failing to provide two breath specimens for analysis at Dundee Police HQ .
Depute fiscal Sarah Wilkinson said there was a 40mph speed limit on that part of the road.
Police Scotland received a call about 9.40am concerning a“dangerous driver, possibly under the influence”.
“He was driving at high speed, in excess of what would be appropriate, undertaking vehicles on the carriageway and generally not appearing to be in control,”she explained.
Fifteen minutes later, another witness was driving when the accused overtook her at“high speed”.
The fiscal added:“A short distance ahead, he lost control and collided with a wall at the nearside of the carriageway, coming to rest on the road.”
Another witness was in her lounge, which directly overlooks the crash scene, and observed the van colliding at high speed with the wall.
Police responded immediately and discovered that two metres of a three-metre stretch of fencing had been“completely destroyed”.
McDonald was sitting at the roadside and he was checked over by ambulance personnel.
Solicitor Paul Ralph said his client had met up with friends and family the previous evening and had been drinking. He had arranged to stay at an ex-girlfriend’s house and had only managed to get“a few hours’sleep”.
Sheriff William Wood told the accused:“This was a particularly reckless piece of conduct on your part.
“I appreciate you are 22 years of age and that is, to a certain extent, a mitigating factor. But nevertheless, you have been driving for some time and know what the rules are.”
Although the threshold for a prison sentence had been crossed, there was a “presumption”against imposing short prison sentences.
In all the circumstances, he was able to impose a community payback order.
McDonald, of Dennystoun Caravan Park, West Bridgend, Dumbarton, will also be supervised by a social worker for 18 months.