An Angus wedding DJ has left a local couple in the lurch after being jailed just two weeks before their big day.
David Hepburn, of Fraser Path, Arbroath, was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment at the town’s sheriff court, on Tuesday, after being caught driving while disqualified for the eighth time.
It means he will not be able to honour a booking at the Cliffburn Hotel on June 7. Defence agent Angela McLardy made a plea of mitigation to Sheriff Peter Paterson on Hepburn’s behalf.
She said: “June 7 is when the wedding is booked and yet there’s no alternative person. The wedding has been booked for some time.”
The court heard that Hepburn, who works for Impulse Entertainment, led police on a pursuit through Arbroath on March 10.
Depute fiscal Hazel Anderson said: “The car in question belonged to his partner.It appears they had an argument the day before.
“Around 1am, she contacted the police to say she had an argument with the accused and that it had been a domestic incident.”
Hepburn was later spotted driving by police officers, who signalled for him to stop but hhe accelerated away on Montrose Road. After he was lost to sight, staff at the police control room contacted him on his mobile phone.
Ms Anderson said: “He said he would attend at the police station later that day once he had sobered up. He sounded out of breath at that time.
“He was never traced despite various attempts to trace him at that time, and a warrant was set.”
Hepburn admitted driving on various roads in Arbroath without a licence and failing to stop when asked to do so by police officers. Ms McLardy told the court her client is father to two children and a three-month-old baby.
She added: “He understands he is in a really serious position in terms of a custodial sentence.”
Sheriff Paterson told Hepburn he had no alternative but to impose a jail term. Hepburn was disqualified from driving for a further five years in addition to his jail term.