A Romanian national has been cleared of dangerous driving at a Perth McDonald’s after he insisted he had never set foot in Scotland.
The man was arrested in England and brought to Perth Sheriff Court for trial, having spent 39 days on remand.
He denied he was 22-year-old chicken factory worker Iordan Spirian, who prosecutors claimed nearly knocked down a pedestrian outside the Dunkeld Road diner in February 2021.
He claimed to be another man, Iordan Sorinel-Ionut, and said he was in Romania at the time.
Solicitor Bethany Downham, defending, said her client – arrested on a warrant in Doncaster last month – had never been north of the border, let alone Perth.
During his trial, the accused was positively identified as the driver by a retired police officer.
But his colleague said “if he was being honest” he couldn’t be certain the man in the dock was the same one he spotted outside McDonald’s three-and-a-half years ago.
Fiscal depute Stephanie Paterson afterwards confirmed the Crown was no longer seeking a prosecution.
Sheriff Mark Stewart KC found the man in the dock – who he referred to as “Mister Accused” – not guilty.
Screeching tyres
Spirian was accused of driving an Audi A4 dangerously without insurance or a licence on February 13 2021.
It was alleged he drove at excessive speed on Dunkeld Road and charged through a roundabout and across a zebra crossing, causing a pedestrian to take evasive action.
He was further accused of driving a “dangerous” Vauxhall Astra on the same street six days later.
The charge states one of the car’s wheels was so badly damaged there was a risk the tyre could detach.
The accused denied the charge and when asked if he was Iordan Siprian, responded “no”.
Former sergeant Fraser Cameron, 60, told the trial he was on routine patrol when he spotted the Audi at about 10.45pm.
“Without slowing down, the car shot out of Inchaffray Street and straight along Dunkeld Road.
“Given the manner of driving, I caught up with the vehicle and took up a following position behind it.”
He said it was doing about 40mph in a 30mph zone.
Mr Cameron said the Audi spun its wheels as it turned into the McDonald’s car park.
“You could hear the screeching of the tyres on the tarmac.
“There was a pedestrian using the crossing there and they had to move quickly to avoid being struck.”
Police approached the car when it pulled in at the drive-thru.
Identification
Asked by Ms Paterson if he could identify the driver more than three years on, Mr Cameron at first said he was “fairly sure” he could but then said he was “sure” and pointed to the man in the dock.
The court heard police had gone to the driver’s home in Inchaffray Street to get his passport but it could not be found.
Police colleagues confirmed later the man and his female passenger were employed at the 2 Sisters poultry plant in Coupar Angus.
However, the Crown case collapsed after the second police witness Sergeant Darren Pilkington said he could not 100% identify the driver.
Before the trial, prosecutors had proposed – for identification purposes – to put the accused in the public benches, rather than the dock, and sit alongside GeoAmey officers in plain clothes.
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