A sheriff refused to deal with a Perth driver who struck a pedestrian in a Tesco car park because he was at school with his dad.
Ruaridh De Maine Beaumont appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and pled guilty to driving carelessly at Crieff Road, on May 25 last year.
Court papers state the 41-year-old drove his Ford Focus at pedestrian Abbie Kinmont, striking her on the body to her injury.
De Maine Beaumont, of Old Mill Access, Huntingtower, also admitted failing to report the accident to police within 24 hours.
However, before details of the case could be read in court, Sheriff Grant McCulloch interrupted proceedings.
He said: “I have a slightly unusual situation.
“While I don’t know this accused, I know his father – we were at school together.”
Although De Maine Beaumont said from the dock he does not have a relationship with his father, the sheriff apologised for the inconvenience but said it would be “fairer” to defer the case until Friday.
Abuser jailed
Stephen Napier, 32, from Arbroath, has been jailed for more than a year after carrying out two “extremely violent” attacks on his partner. She was left with a badly-cut hand in one and he dug his nails into her flesh in the other.
More time for driver
Learner driver Jack Ferguson, who injured three friends after rolling a car several times into a field, has been given extra time to complete a court-imposed educational course.
The gym worker was banned from the road and ordered to engage with the Right Track programme after admitting two charges of dangerous driving.
The 20-year-old lost control of a speeding Vauxhall Corsa near Huntingtower on April 14 2021.
Days earlier, he was involved in a high-speed road rage bust-up with another motorist.
Ferguson, of Tweedsmuir Road, appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and sentence was further deferred for his work on the Right Track scheme.
Prison assault
Sex offender Katie Dolatowski, who attracted public protest after being locked up in a Scottish all-women’s prison, has been placed on a structured deferred sentence for battering a male inmate during a previous period of incarceration. The 22-year-old, who was born male, was in Polmont at the time.
Party stab charge
A teenager has appeared in court accused of knifing a girl at a party in Kirkcaldy.
Tyler Ocimek, 18, is accused of assaulting her by striking her on the head with a bottle, repeatedly punching her head and kicking her body and repeatedly striking her with a knife, all to her injury.
The incident is said to have taken place at an address in the town on January 14.
Ocimek, of Turriff Place, Kirkcaldy, had his case confined without plea until next month.
Death crash driver banned
A tractor driver who caused a fatal collision in rural Angus has been banned from the road. Duncan Lamond previously admitted causing 56-year-old Linda Thomson’s death by careless driving on July 28 2021 but argued there were “special reasons” he should keep his licence.
Called dad, police arrived
A drink-driver who broke down in Angus phoned his dad for a lift but was picked up by police instead and has now been fined £520 and banned for 15 months.
Stuart Adam, 41, admitted being four and a half times over the limit (99 mics/22) when he drove home shortly after 5am on June 24 last year.
He had been drinking in pubs and a friend’s home in Kirriemuir, before trying to take the B9113 home to Provost Mitchell Road in Montrose after a few hours sleep.
Police received a call at 5.15am that the off-shore worker was staggering around his car and officers arrived five minutes later, near Fledmyre Quarry.
Adam explained he had broken down and had phoned his father for a lift but slurred his words and smelled strongly of alcohol.
Solicitor Nick Markowski told Forfar Sheriff Court his client’s hillwalking hobby will be restricted by the imposition of a driving ban.
He said: “He’s driven for 20 years. He is embarrassed and ashamed.”
Paedophile dies
Dundee pensioner Alexander Scott, who was found guilty of carrying out sex attacks at Dundee’s Olympia, has died before he could be sentenced. Scott, 78, was found guilty last year of a string of sexual offences against two children, spanning more than a quarter of a century.
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