A disqualified motorist took his workmate’s car for a joyride and drove it 75 miles down the A9 before crashing it outside a popular Perthshire guesthouse.
Joe Malcolm, who was caught by police inside the stricken Mini, blamed the offence on his “significant lifestyle issues”.
The 30-year-old, whose address was listed as Laundry Cottage, Cromlix, Dunblane, appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and admitted taking a blue Mini without the owner’s consent from a property at Dalnabay, Aviemore, on February 24 2021.
He pled guilty to driving while disqualified and without insurance on the A9 Perth-Inverness road, near Newhill Farm between Luncarty and Bankfoot.
Air bags deployed
Fiscal depute Dev Kapadia told the court: “The vehicle in this case belonged to the accused’s work colleague.
“He had been staying with them at the time.”
He said: “The colleague said he did not give permission to the accused to drive his car and made a formal complaint.”
Mr Kapadia said the workmate had retired to bed around 10pm.
“He was of the view that his vehicle was still parked in the driveway outside.
“Later, police received an emergency call about a road traffic accident at the entrance to Newhill Farm, off the A9.
“They traced the car at the roadside and noted it had suffered damage to its offside.
“The air bags had been deployed.”
The prosecutor said: “The accused was in the front passenger seat when police arrived.”
Lifestyle
A solicitor for Malcolm told the court his client had “significant lifestyle issues” at the time.
“He has since taken steps to address these issues.”
He added: “It is not lost on Mr Malcolm that these are serious matters.
“However, I would suggest that there is an alternative to custody.”
The court heard that Malcolm had found employment with a family firm, and his bosses could arrange for him to carry out unpaid work.
Sheriff Charles Lugton told Malcolm: “I’ve been persuaded to deal with this by way of a non-custodial sentence.”
Malcolm was banned from driving for 16 months and must undertake 90 hours of unpaid work.
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