A retired Perth businessman admitted getting behind the wheel while nearly three-and-a-half times the drink-drive limit.
Michael Paton, 74, was reported to police when witnesses near the River Almond heard a loud bang at around 6pm on August 2, this year.
One onlooker turned to see a Mercedes turning into a driveway, before Paton emerged and said: “I’m sorry”.
Fiscal depute Andrew Harding said: “There was a smell of alcohol and the accused was unsteady on his feet.
“He said that he would pay for any damage.”
Paton’s lawyer said there was a background of bereavement and alcohol issues and that evening, was drinking before driving to an ex-partner’s home.
He pled guilty to driving on an unclassified road near Bleachers Way, Huntingtowerfield, with excess alcohol (75mics/ 22).
Sheriff David Hall told him: “You have a clean driving licence and no previous convictions.
“It is sad to see someone of your age coming before the court for the first time.”
Paton, of Almond Grove, was fined £600 and banned from driving for a year.
Football fracas
A former international footballer left an opposition player scarred for life by headbutting him during an over-35s league match. Martin Szpak, 38, flew into a rage and assaulted ex-Dundee United star Jamie McCunnie after being subjected to a crunching tackle during the opening match of the season.
Debt scrap
A Carnoustie woman has admitted repeatedly slapping a woman over a £140 debt.
Stacey Fyffe, 35, appeared at Forfar Sheriff Court to admit acting in a threatening or abusive manner in April.
At the woman’s Lingard Street home, Fyffe repeatedly kicked and banged the front door and demanded entry.
Fyffe shouted, swore and acted aggressively, then engaged in a struggle with the woman and repeatedly slapped her.
Their altercation was broken up by a neighbour.
Solicitor Billy Rennie said: “It was effectively an argument about money.
“The consequences of this thankfully is no injury to the complainer.
“There’s no contact between the parties now.”
Sheriff Garry Sutherland deferred sentencing for six months for Fyffe, off Burnside Street in Carnoustie, to be of good behaviour.
Court after 17 years
A Royal Artillery major who caused a car crash by pulling on a car’s handbrake when he was a teenager has pled guilty in court – more than 17 years after the offence. James Garmory, now 35, was just 18 at the time of the incident and the sheriff pointed out he has since served his country “in a number of theatres of war” as he opted against an absolute discharge and admonished him.
Legal restraint, not assault
A staff member at a residential child care hub has been cleared of assaulting a pre-teen boy.
Prosecutors alleged Glen Jackson, 30, assaulted the child in a field near the Perthshire complex in May last year by chasing him, grabbing him and pulling him to the ground, then forcing his knees up to his chest, to his injury.
He was also accused of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner.
Jackson, from Scone, was found not guilty of both charges following a two-day trial at Perth Sheriff Court.
Sheriff James Hastie agreed he had been restraining the child after he ran off into the field and dismissed claims by one witness he “rugby tackled” the boy.
The sheriff said: “It is clear that this child had significant issues and a plan was developed to deal with those issues and keep him and others as safe as possible.
“I accepted the accused’s evidence that this was a restraint in the context of his work.”
Sheriff Hastie added: “I think the accused encapsulated the situation when he said he made a split-second decision to run and engage with the boy.
“I am satisfied that in his engagement there was no intent to attack or injure him but instead to maintain his safety.”
Solicitor David Holmes, defending, said: “Mr Jackson was trying to do his job and it was a very difficult job on this day.”
He said the child had previously absconded from placements and was known to have been physically violent towards other care staff.
“He has displayed unsafe behaviours… The reality is that Mr Jackson was simply trying to bring this child under control.”
Rules review demanded after rape
A student raped by a “predatory” Dundee taxi driver has called for an urgent tightening of licensing rules after it emerged he was allowed to keep his taxi badge, despite a conviction for stalking a teenage girl. Saifal Zaveri went on to rape one girl he picked up as a fare and sexually assaulted another.
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