A motorist who crashed his car while leaning over to stick his middle finger up at a traffic warden has been banned from the roads.
Christopher Cahill wept as he escaped a jail sentence at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.
The 37-year-old arrived at the court on an electric bike, which his defence agent said he had taken to riding as he could no longer afford to run a car.
The court had previously heard how Cahill had abused warden Aaron Hunter as he worked in Dunfermline, before bumping into a parked car then fleeing the scene.
Health benefits of losing licence
Solicitor Kevin Connor, defending, said Cahill had already lost his licence under the “totting up” process after being convicted in the Justice of the Peace Court of driving with a defective tyre.
He said: “The incident would have been disturbing for the individual, who was only doing his job.
“He wasn’t out to provoke Mr Cahill but he caught Mr Cahill at a bad time.”
He said Cahill was having personal difficulties but was now in a better place with his life.
He added: “He no longer has a car, he cycled here.
“He can’t afford to have one.
“The police took it from him (when he had the defective tyre) and it cost him quite a bit to get it back.”
He added his client enjoying the health benefits of cycling and had given up on smoking cannabis, which had also improved his health.
Persistent driving offender
Banning him from the roads for nine months, Sheriff Alastair Brown told Cahill: “The traffic warden was doing his job, which was related to the enforcement of the law.
“Someone who abuses anyone doing their job will be at serious risk of being sent to prison.”
However he spared Cahill a custodial sentence and placed him on a curfew for three months.
Cahill, of Main Street, Lumphinnans, pled guilty to acting in a threatening or abusive manner towards warden Aaron Hunter while he was working at New Row in Dunfermline on February 20 2020.
The incident took place a week after Cahill, 37, had been convicted of careless driving.
Cahill’s catalogue of driving offences including driving without insurance, without a licence and while disqualified, dating back to the early 2000s.
