A Fife man has been banned from the road for a decade after leading police on a high speed pursuit near a school.
Sean Lawrence was disqualified from driving for ten years at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court after admitting driving dangerously while uninsured and banned.
The 26-year-old was already serving an eight-year ban when police spotted him behind the wheel near his home in Kirkcaldy’s Hendry Road just before 9.30am on May 4 last year.
Officers in a marked vehicle switched on their blue lights and Lawrence took off.
He reached speeds in excess of 60mph in a 20mph zone and overtook traffic when unsafe to do so in an area with traffic calming measures.
Police eventually abandoned their pursuit after other motorists were forced into evasive action and Lawrence entered a roundabout at speed.
His solicitor David Bell said: “He’s panicked.
“He’s taken the vehicle for no apparent good reason. He regrets what he’s done.”
Sheriff Ian Anderson ordered Lawrence to complete 240 hours of unpaid work.
Lawrence will also be supervised for two years and must complete a road traffic offenders course.
Repeat drink-driver
Broughty Ferry joiner Wojciech Szyszka, who was caught drink-driving three times in the space of a month, has been banned from the road for five years. The 44-year-old returned a higher reading each time he was stopped between February and March.
Break-in ‘prank’
A man caught trying to break into a Kirriemuir flat told social workers it was all part of a “prank”.
Brian Taylor was attempting to prise open the window of a Clova Road property, using a wallpaper scraper, when he was approached by police.
Neighbours had earlier reported the 44-year-old’s suspicious behaviour.
He was spotted peering into the windows of the flat, while covering his face with his hood and a black mask.
Taylor, of Barra Terrace, Dundee, appeared at Forfar Sheriff Court and admitted a charge of attempting to break into the property with intent to steal on August 7, 2020.
Taylor told officers it was his friend’s house and he was trying to get back a stereo belonging to a family member.
However, fiscal depute Jill Drummond said the “friend” later told police he did not know the accused and he didn’t have permission to enter his flat.
Sheriff Derek Reekie also pointed out that, in a social work report, Taylor suggested “he wanted to get in and prank the chap, thinking he would find it funny when he got home.”
The case was deferred until May 12 to make further inquiries about the “friend” discrepancy.
Student violence
An Abertay student held a knife at her flatmate’s face as a night of drinking turned nasty in a Dundee halls of residence. Maya Andow will be sentenced next month.
Panel beater
A Dunfermline woman kicked through a glass panel in her partner’s door and called him a paedophile” when he refused to let her back into his home after a row.
Susan Robertson left the property in Fairy Fa Crescent, Crossgates, following an argument about a family matter.
Procurator fiscal depute Jill Currie told Dunfermline Sheriff Court Robertson and the man had been in an “on and off relationship” for about three years and were drinking together on the night in question in October last year.
Ms Currie said Robertson, of the town’s Law Road, became agitated and began throwing household items around so he asked her to leave.
“She left the locus but left her shoes and house keys behind so returned shortly after to retrieve them.
“When she returned the complainer informed her she was not coming back in and this angered her and she began aggressively kicking at glass panels of the complainer’s door and caused the panels to crack substantially.
“The accused calls the complainer a paedophile and this commotion was heard by a neighbour in the flat below and the accused continued to behave in an aggressive way and would not stop so the complainer called the police.”
Defence lawyer Stephen Morrison said: “She did not have her shoes, her keys or phone and police officers provide information they found her walking down the street in a very upset condition and crying.”
Robertson admitted shouting, swearing, throwing household items and repeatedly kicking a glass panel and calling her partner a derogatory name on October 1 last year.
Sheriff Charles Macnair adjourned sentencing for three months for Robertson to be of good behaviour and for the consideration of a non harassment order.
Sheep shouter
A tourist who urinated on a child at an A9 service station and then shouted at a field of sheep has been given an unpaid work order. Thomas Degnan, 42, from Glasgow appeared at Perth Sheriff Court.
The full caseload of the Dundee Crime and Courts Team can be found here.
