Painter fined and banned from road

A teenage Caol painter and decorator was fined a total of £400 and banned from the roads for six months after admitting motoring offences at Fort William Sheriff Court.

Liam MacKinnon, 19, of Fern Court, Caol, appeared before Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald at the court this week.

MacKinnon had pleaded guilty that on November 30 last year, at West End car park in Fort William, he had driven a car without the owner’s consent and without insurance, and that he had driven another car without insurance on November 24 of last year on the road between Aonach Mor and Nevis Range.

MacKinnon’s pleas of not guilty to charges of taking a car without the owner’s consent at Camanachd Crescent, Fort William, on November 30 and driving that car without insurance or a test certificate; and driving a car without insurance or a test certificate in Camanachd Crescent on November 29, were accepted by the Crown.

Procurator fiscal Robert Weir told the court that at about 10.30pm on the night of November 24, police on patrol had stopped MacKinnon’s vehicle.

‘Officers suspected there might be no insurance in place but the accused was allowed to continue and provide a certificate of insurance at a later date but was then unable to do so,’ explained Mr Weir.

‘And it turned out that the vehicle referred to in charges one and two was, in fact, his brother’s vehicle and the accused accepted he did not have permission to drive it or have insurance.’

Defence agent Hamish Melrose said his client was a first offender who had been largely self-employed since leaving school at 15.

‘He has been largely self-employed as a painter and decorator and the vehicle referred to in charge six [driving without insurance on November 24] was used for not just leisure purposes but for work also,’ Mr Melrose told the court.

‘He believed he was insured when he was stopped by the police on that occasion but it transpired his insurance had run out four days before.

‘He says he was unaware of his policy lapsing and had received no reminder so it was inadvertence on his part that caused charge six.’

Mr Melrose went on to explain that MacKinnon had afterwards used his father’s van for work for a period but when this became unavailable he had taken his brother’s vehicle.

‘He had used it after getting work to render the outside of a house in Fort William. But permission was not given and he did not have insurance for it. Since that incident he has not worked at all - he has been living off his savings, but these are running out.

‘However, it is likely he will be working locally again in the next two weeks or so for another painter and decorator.’

Sheriff MacDonald fined MacKinnon £200 on each of the driving without insurance charges, as well as endorsing his licence with six penalty points for each of the offences.

He was endorsed and admonished on the charge of driving a vehicle without the owner’s consent.

However, under the totting up procedure, the total of 12 penalty points from the two insurance charges saw MacKinnon disqualified from driving for six months.