An Angus driving instructor’s first lesson with a new student ended in injury when a Tayside Contracts van ploughed into his parked car.
Apprentice HGV mechanic Thomas Twaddle appeared at Forfar Sheriff Court to admit a reduced charge of careless driving.
On the B9127 near Carmyllie, he collided with instructor Thomas Dye’s car, which was parked as he talked a female learner through a manoeuvre in her first time out in the car.
Mr Dye, the learner and a passenger in Twaddle’s van, all suffered whiplash and strain and both the van and the learner car were extensively damaged.
The 20-year-old admitted driving carelessly by failing to observe the parked car and colliding with it, causing the injuries. He was initially charged with driving dangerously.
Twaddle’s solicitor Keith Sym explained a tracker on the van showed his client had been travelling at between 43mph and 46mph within the 60mph zone.
He added: “The sun was relatively low in the sky.
“He tells me he was temporarily blinded by the sun and didn’t see the vehicle.”
Sheriff Derek Reekie imposed seven penalty points and fined the first offender, of Benedict Road in Arbroath, £715.
He said: “You’re fortunate that your employers are supportive. I take the view this is at the upper end of carelessness.”
Bad boy found by very good boy
A drunk driver who abandoned his car after smashing into two vehicles on Christmas morning was tracked down by a police dog as he hid in bushes. Shaun Connelly was four times the legal alcohol limit when he got behind the wheel in Broughty Ferry.
Letterbox lout
A topless drunk who shouted through a stranger’s letterbox before dawn has been fined for breaching a community payback order.
Unemployed Kristofer McGinty appeared from custody to plead guilty to breaching the order imposed for offending he admitted on June 14 2020.
At Langshaw Road in Dundee, he acted in a threatening or abusive manner by repeatedly kicking and banging a door, looking through a letterbox, shouting and swearing at the resident there and making abusive and threatening remarks to police.
Prosecutor Michael Robertson explained a resident was woken by banging at 5.30am and was met with abuse when he opened his door to topless McGinty, who had been shouting through his letterbox.
McGinty also admitted vandalising the front door by striking it and then resisting, obstructing or hindering police by struggling with them.
The 40-year-old, of Pitalpin Court, was ordered to pay the man he abused £200 in compensation and fined a further £190 by Sheriff John Rafferty.
Fled to Fife
A motorist fled to Fife after carrying out a horrific murder bid on his wife after she left him. William Budge drove his vehicle straight at his wife, collided with her and then returned to drive over the stricken victim again. He later drove to Fife, where his abandoned car was found in Dunfermline.
Bomb hoax charge
A 20-year-old man has appeared in court accused of child sex offences and making a bogus bomb threat about a Loganair flight.
Ross Buchan allegedly made phone calls from his Dundee flat claiming an explosive device was on board a flight between Glasgow and Kirkwall on January 4.
Several flights were delayed and Buchan, of Pitalpin Court, was arrested to appear at Dundee Sheriff Court.
According to court papers, Buchan allegedly sent sexual images and videos to a child as well as making violent threats towards the youth between November 18 and 25 last year.
During the same time period, it is alleged he threatened to stab and kill the child, as well as making sexually explicit threats.
Buchan is thirdly accused of repeatedly making phone calls with the intention of inducing them “of a false belief” that a bomb or “other thing liable to explode or ignite” was present on a plane.
The flight in question was a Loganair flight LM432 which was travelling from Glasgow to Kirkwall.
The flight was airborne at the time and contained several passengers and crew members.
Buchan’s case called in private on petition with no plea made on his behalf by solicitor Anika Jethwa.
Sheriff Clair McLachlan committed Buchan for further examination and remanded him in custody meantime.
He is expected to make a second court appearance next week.
Dog destruction order
A sheriff ordered the destruction of two unregistered XL bully-type dogs involved in a chaotic attack in Dundee. The dogs – Rocky and Hooch – repeatedly bit each other at Cardross Place and Hooch’s owner, 54-year-old Tamara Stewart, admitted being in charge of the dogs while they were “dangerously out of control”.
Sleeping in car
An electrical engineering graduate was caught high on cannabis behind the wheel of a car while his feet were in a sleeping bag.
Police found Ahmed Hamza, 36, in the driver’s seat of a parked Fiat Punto on Dundee’s Broughty Ferry Road on May 2 last year.
Officers were contacted at around 7.20pm by an anonymous caller, who said Hamza was smoking cannabis in the vehicle.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard the keys were in the ignition but the engine had not been started.
His feet were in a sleeping bag and his shoes were off.
Hamza, of William Fitzgerald Way, had been regularly sleeping in the car due to a “fractious” relationship with his parents, according to solicitor Gary Foulis.
He added: “He’s a very intelligent young man. He’s very anxious to hold onto his licence.”
Sheriff Alastair Carmichael stayed his hand in banning Hamza and instead imposed 10 points on his licence along with fining him £400.
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