An Angus woman prompted a major police investigation after falsely claiming a baby had been thrown from its pram in a hit and run in Forfar.
Rheanne Ferguson-Flynn had ctually lost control of the pram while talking on a mobile phone, causing it to crash into a wall.
Yesterday Ferguson-Flynn, 18, of Horologe Hill in Arbroath, was sentenced at Forfar Sheriff Court after admitting making two false police reports on April 10 and 11 last year.
She admitted falsely claiming the child’s pram had been hit by a car at the junction of Goosecroft and Green Street in Forfar on April 10 and that the car’s driver failed to stop.
Depute fiscal Stewart Duncan said officers had attended at Goosecroft in Forfar in response to a report that a child had been hit by a car at 3.50pm.
“The accused was very upset and the child seemed to have a bump on its head,” he told the court.
“The child was thereafter taken by ambulance to Ninewells Hospital and during the journey the accused divulged what had happened.
“She said Lee Tough was the driver of a car who struck the pram, causing the child to fall onto the road and hit its head on the ground. She said the car then drove up the street and away.”
But the true circumstances came to light after officers reviewed CCTV footage.
“On the CCTV footage, the accused was seen pushing the pram whilst talking on a mobile phone,” the depute fiscal continued.
“As she approached the kerb she raised the front wheels of the pram and the pram jolts. She tries to correct the path of the pram but it strikes a wall.
“The CCTV does not show a yellow car. It did show the child could have received an injury when the pram struck the wall. She was charged with wasting police time.”
Defence agent Brian Bell said his client recognised the seriousness of the offence.
“She was wasting police time and a person was named with what would have been a serious road traffic offence,” he said.
“She tendered a plea of guilty at the outset and the social work report reflects her remorse.”
Sheriff Jillian Martin-Brown placed Ferguson-Flynn on a low tariff structured deferred sentence, with a review to be held in three months.
