An Angus man has been banned from the road after a police chase through Brechin.
Gordon McMillan panicked when officers switched on their blue lights and sirens after he was driving home from a works night out but police gave up the chase because they considered the icy road conditions too dangerous.
Forfar Sheriff Court heard 46-year-old McMillan had suffered family heartbreak two years ago when his son died in a road accident outside Brechin.
A sheriff told the accused his actions had been “at the upper end” of the careless driving scale and he was disqualified for nine months.
The court heard police saw McMillan, of Barnhead, Montrose, leaving a bar with a friend shortly before midnight. Soon after, the same officers saw an Audi A4 car containing the accused and, believing him to be driving under the influence, activated blue lights and sirens to get the accused to stop.
Instead, he sped off through Brechin, reaching speeds in excess of 80 miles an hour on country roads.
The court was told that one of the officers was a trained pursuit driver but because of the icy conditions at the time decided to abandon the chase on safety grounds.
Police went to McMillan’s home but he was not there and he called police the next day to admit he had been behind the wheel.
The accused admitted failing to stop for police in Cookston Road, Brechin, on Feburary 2 and driving carelessly on various town streets and in Little Brechin. He was originally charged with driving dangerously but a reduced plea was accepted by the Crown.
Defence agent Bob Bruce said his client had suffered the loss of his son in a road accident two years ago and had simply panicked the night of the offence.
He had drunk two lager shandies on a works night out but was now facing losing his livelihood as an HGV driver of 20 years as a result of the offence.
Sheriff Kevin Veal also fined McMillan £400 for the February 2 offence and told him: “This was at the upper end of the careless driving scale, so disqualification is inevitable.”
* In October 2011, 25-year-old Stephen McMillan died following an accident near the Brechin Castle Centre, when he was thrown from his KTM motorcycle.