A young Fife driver caught travelling at 99mph on the A92 during heavy rain has been allowed to keep his licence after a court heard about his ambulance-driving work.
Zak Braid, 19, who works for a private medical company providing ambulance cover at events, pled guilty to driving carelessly on the dual carriageway near the Kirkcaldy West interchange on April 9 last year.
Prosecutor Aimee Mason told Dunfermline Sheriff Court it happened at around 2am and conditions at the time were dark, with heavy rain, poor visibility and excess standing water on the road. Traffic was light.
The fiscal depute said police saw Braid’s car entering the A92 from a slip road and he reached speeds of up to 99mph before police caught him after around a mile.
Defence lawyer Chris Sneddon said Braid, of Courthill Drive, Glenrothes, is a new driver but “effectively provides ambulance cover” at events, including at football grounds, driving a small ambulance and issuing and preparing medical kits prior.
The lawyer asked the court to impose five penalty points as six would mean him having his licence revoked as driver who passed their test within the last two years.
Sheriff Mark O’Hanlon said: “You are providing services to the community by driving ambulances and will be on notice until October.
“If you come to the attention of the court you will automatically have your licence revoked, as a young driver”.
The sheriff fined Braid £640 and gave him five penalty points.
Stalked and groped
Dundee man Steven Saunders, 60, stalked a council employee including knocking on her bedroom window at 3am. His campaign was interrupted with a stay in Tayside psychiatric hospitals, where he groped female patients.
Lorry driver banned
A Dundee lorry driver has been banned from the road after getting behind the wheel after an afternoon of festive boozing.
James McComiskie, of Fleming Gardens North in Dundee, crashed into a telegraph pole and came to rest in a field on December 23 last year after careering off the A933 between Brechin and Froickheim.
At Forfar Sheriff Court, he admitted driving with excess alcohol (51mics/ 22).
His solicitor Billy Rennie said: “He’s not had employment since this.”
The 50-year-old was banned for a year by Sheriff Jillian Martin-Brown and fined £355.
3D danger
A teenager who used a Christmas gift 3D printer in a bid to build a semi-automatic rifle in rural Perthshire was spared a jail sentence. James Maris, 19, used the present from his parents to manufacture parts for a firearm called the FGC9, which stands for ‘F–k Gun Control 9’. He said he was a hobbyist who intended no harm.
Stalker
A stalker harassed a teenage girl for four years across Dundee before holding his mother at knifepoint during a violent outburst.
Jake Handling is awaiting sentencing for the stalking campaign against the girl at various locations in the city between June 2019 and April 2023.
The creep admitted repeatedly sending the girl – who was 14 when Handling first targeted her – unwanted social media messages before repeatedly approaching her.
Handling, 30, posted messages about her online, repeatedly contacted her directly and tried to contact her through friends and family.
The offence was committed at an address in Dundee, Dudhope skate park and under the Tay Bridge.
On October 25 last year, Handling, of Adamson Court, unleashed a torrent of verbal abuse at his mother on Mains Drive before running towards her while clutching a knife, seizing hold of her and pinning her to a chair while brandishing the knife at her head and making a threat.
Solicitor David Sinclair confirmed Handling’s guilty plea at Dundee Sheriff Court.
Sentence was deferred until February for a social work report to be prepared and Handling’s bail order was continued.
Wheelie dangerous
A serial offender from Fife has been jailed for a catalogue of crimes, including dangerous driving while doing a wheelie on a motorbike, causing a crash which left him fighting for his life. Gordon Gibson, 27, had been doing the wheelie just before the collision, which left him with a traumatic brain injury.
Taser demand
An Angus man grieving his dead dog and ruing his failed bid to join the army waded into a village pub, attacked staff and a patron and demanded to be tasered when police arrived.
Ben Fanner previously appeared at Forfar Sheriff Court to admit four charges of disorder at the Angus village pub on June 9 this year.
He admitted he behaved in a threatening or abusive manner by shouting, acting aggressively, making violent threats, challenging a 46-year-old man to a fight and repeatedly banging on walls and doors.
Fanner, 22 admitted assaulting a bar worker by striking her on the face with his hand.
When police arrived, he again acted in a manner likely to cause fear or alarm, demanded officers taser him and said, with his hand behind his back, he was in possession of a knife.
He also admitted assaulting a PC by butting him on the head and trying to punch him.
Prosecutor Elizabeth Hodgson said other patrons had to be ushered out a back door while Fanner raged in the pub.
Defending, lawyer Michael Boyd said: “He does apologise to the staff, the patrons and the police.
“He was in a heightened state of emotions – he had lost a pet dog that he’d had since he was growing up.
“He’d had his heart set on joining the army but he’d failed the test for that.
“I just think he needs some direction in life.”
First offender Fanner, of Letham, was ordered to complete 140 hours of unpaid work and was placed under supervision for a year.
Sheriff Reekie, noting that the social work report disclosed Fanner had been drinking 50 cans of lager a week, said: “It seems to me that you’re relatively immature.”
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