A senior chef at the Gleneagles Hotel ploughed his Mercedes Benz into a house and told police: “I pressed the gas by mistake.”
Shah Al Faysal careered into a property down the street from the world famous five-star venue, forcing residents to move out.
Perth Sheriff Court heard the smash in September last year left both the car and the semi-detached house extensively damaged.
Al Faysal, who was a head chef at the hotel’s clubhouse-based Dormy Restaurant at the time, was originally charged with dangerous driving.
The 33-year-old pled guilty to an amended charge of careless driving.
The court heard he lost control of his vehicle and caused it to swerve from side to side before striking a kerb and colliding with the side of the house.
Al Faysal, now working as a taxi driver in Newcastle, was not present when his case called but has been ordered to appear in the dock for sentencing next month.
Occupants slept through smash
Prosecutor Melissa Phillips said the accident happened just before 11pm on September 7, last year.
Police arrived on the scene to find the crashed car up against the property with its airbags deployed.
A group of four men were seen standing around the vehicle.
They had started to walk away when police arrived, the court heard.
“The men were traced by officers and they all identified the accused as the driver,” said Ms Phillips.
“The owner of the property came outside to see what was happening.
“He said he had been asleep at the time, and wasn’t aware of the accident.”
The fiscal depute said: “The homeowner had to find somewhere else to stay, given the damage that was caused to his property.”
Al Faysal was arrested by officers. He told them: “I wasn’t driving dangerously. I pressed the gas by mistake.”
The house was left with visible cracks around the front door. Nine months on and restoration work is still ongoing.
‘Momentary’ lapse
The street was closed for several hours after the accident.
Fire crews were called to make the area safe and isolate gas and electricity.
Solicitor Billy Somerville, defending, said: “This was a momentary lapse.
“He pressed the wrong pedal, causing his vehicle to strike the building.
”Fortunately, there were no injuries as a result.”
Mr Somerville said although damage caused to the property was extensive, it will be covered by insurance.
Sheriff Mark O’Hanlon said the damage to the house suggested the car may have been travelling at speed.
He deferred sentence and ordered Al Faysal, of Hazelhead Avenue, Newcastle, to appear in person.
A Gleneagles Hotel spokesman declined to comment.
Previous smash on same street
The case echoes an incident from August 2018, when Gleneagles Hotel’s then head of food and drink crashed his car through a garden fence on the same street.
Willie Jones, who co-founded a national apprenticeship scheme aimed at “raising standards across Scotland’s hospitality sector”, was nearly four times the drink-drive limit.
He was ordered to carry out unpaid work and banned from driving for 22 months.
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