A Dundee man walked free from court after police forgot to bring video footage for evidence.
George Drummond, 38, from Lochee, appeared at Forfar’s Justice of the Peace Court to answer a charge of careless driving.
The charges against Mr Drummond were that he allegedly drove a vehicle without due care and attention and without making proper observations.
He was alleged to have failed to give way on the A932 Friockheim to Forfar road at the junction with the road to Letham.
Mr Drummond allegedly drove into the path of another vehicle, forcing its driver to take evasive action.
But it can be revealed today that the case was deserted after police failed to bring an evidential video from a police car for the court to view.
A last-ditch attempt was made, with officers sent from Dundee’s Bell Street headquarters with a DVD copy of the dashcam footage.
However, when they arrived at Forfar Sheriff Court the disc did not work.
The presiding sheriff then took the decision to desert the case rather than grant the Crown an extension.
Despite the Crown Office’s role in prosecuting legal proceedings, the onus is on police to ensure that any evidence requested by the Crown is available in the correct format for a trial.
In the aftermath of the case being deserted, a message posted online by Mr Drummond said: “Well all went well today, thrown out of court — they still didn’t have CCTV footage which the Crown only requested once back in February.
“And so they ordered the police to send up officers from Dundee with the footage and they raced up with a disc that was unplayable.”
The offences were alleged to have happened on November 4 last year.
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “We will look into the circumstances of this particular case to identify the reasons behind what happened.”
A Crown Office spokesman said: “The Crown requested video evidence from the police within appropriate timescales in anticipation of a trial. We are currently considering the decision of the court.”
It is understood the Crown may appeal the court’s decision in due course.
Mr Drummond could not be reached for comment.
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