Driver ‘demolished’ wall after narrowly missing pensioners

A group of elderly dog walkers was forced to take evasive action after a van careered down a residential road and ricocheted off a wall before becoming embedded in another wall on the opposite side of the road.

Perth Sheriff Court heard Mark Boyle lost control as he drove along Drummond Terrace in Crieff late one evening in July.

Three pensioners, who were standing at the junction of Knock Road, took a step back after noticing the 28-year-old approaching at speed.

His Ford Transit-type van glanced off one wall before “zig-zagging” across the road and “demolishing” another.

One of the pensioners was forced to run after their dog after it slipped its collar in fright.

Elizabeth Dakers, 80, was with her husband John and their friend Alexander Geddes when they witnessed the crash.

She said: “The van was coming along Drummond Terrace at a very fast speed and we all moved into Knock Road to get out of the way.

“It didn’t take the corner – it glanced off the wall on the left hand side, turned at a right angle and into the garden across the road.

“It was wedged into the wall – he couldn’t open the door to get out.”

Boyle, of Muthill, was found guilty of driving dangerously and at excessive speed on Crieff’s Drummond Terrace and Knock Road on July 28.

He had earlier admitted driving with a revoked licence, and while three times the legal drink-drive limit on the same occasion.

Sentence was deferred for reports.