North-east man steals two cars despite road ban

A north-east man who stole two cars and careered down a pavement while drunk, causing a pedestrian to leap to safety, has been banned from the road.

Jason Grant was disqualified in May 2016 and again in April last year following convictions at Aberdeen Sheriff Court. But the 20-year-old failed to learn his lesson and struck again on November 12 last year.

He was at a party at an address in Invercauld Gardens in Aberdeen when he took keys from a woman’s handbag and made off with her car.

She quickly realised her vehicle was gone and contacted the police, who recovered it a short time later.

He was at it again on April 18 this year when he saw a woman taking her mother home to Bede House Court in the city.

The woman left the keys in the ignition and he took the chance to pounce and drive away with the car.

He was spotted by police a short time later and, as they approached, he drove the vehicle on to the pavement, forcing one man to jump out of the way to avoid being struck.

The court heard Grant continued to drive along the pavement for about 50 yards before making off on to the motorway.

Around an hour later he was picked up by police at another property in the city.

Officers swiftly formed the view he was intoxicated.

He was breathalysed and found to have 41 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 22.

His criminal activity did not end there however, as when he was taken back to Kittybrewster police station, he threatened officers with violence.

Grant confessed to two thefts, two incidents of driving while disqualified and with no insurance, one count of dangerous driving, driving while over the legal limit and threatening the police during an appearance in Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday.

Sheriff William Summers deferred sentence on him in order to obtain reports.

He will return to court next month.