A groom was caught speeding home from his wedding at 112mph.
Umar Irshad was pulled over by police on the A90, just hours after tying the knot in Dundee.
The off-licence owner told officers his new wife had a headache and he wanted to get her back to Edinburgh as soon as possible.
Irshad, 28, went on trial at Perth Sheriff Court this week, accused of dangerous driving.
He accepted he may have been motoring down the Dundee to Perth road at 112mph – about 60% above the limit – but denied he was a danger to other road users.
Sheriff Derek Reekie found him guilty after rejecting the suggestion this was a case of careless, rather than dangerous, driving.
He told Irshad: “It seems to me that to drive at 112mph in the dark, where there were potential hazards, falls far below the expected standards.
“You did not have regard to the potential dangers that existed.”
Irshad, of Gilmerton Road, Edinburgh, was banned from the road for a year and fined £1,000.
Sped past unmarked police car
The trial heard he was clocked by police in an unmarked BMW on the A90, near Middlebank Farm by Errol, on October 6 2020.
Two police officers said they saw his white Mercedes AMG approaching at speed in their rear view mirror.
They followed him for more than half-a-mile, recording his high speed using onboard Vascar tech.
The court was told Irshad pulled over as soon as the constables activated their blue lights.
Irshad told the trial: “It was the day that I got married.
“We had our wedding in Dundee.
“I was driving home from the in-laws’ house, to Edinburgh.”
Asked why he was driving so fast, he said: “My missus said to me she wasn’t feeling too good.
“She had a headache and was feeling sick.”
Debris and wild animals
Both officers had told the court they did not believe Irshad’s driving was “dangerous.”
However, under cross examination by fiscal depute Andrew Harding, PC Connor Lees agreed there was “occasionally” debris on the A90, as well as a risk of animals like deer running across the road.
Asked what would happen if a car hit a deer while travelling at 112mph, PC Lees said: “It would be a write-off.”
Sheriff Reekie said at the end of the one-day trial: “It troubled me a little bit that both police officers said there was nothing dangerous about the driving, just the speed.
“In the circumstances, it may be a marginal case, but I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that this did amount to dangerous driving.”
The court heard a driving ban could impact the off-licence and post office business he took over from his mother.
