An uninsured motorist wept as he was jailed for causing a crash in which one of his passengers was thrown from his car and into a garden wall.
Johnathon Lawrie, 24, was told he was extremely lucky not to have killed someone when his Ford Fiesta spun out in wet conditions on March 1, last year.
One young female passenger escaped with cuts and bruises after hitting a wall in Carnock’s Bonhard Road.
Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard Lawrie’s terrified passengers had begged him to slow down before the crash.
He had been drinking and initially feared he had killed his passenger.
He pled guilty to driving dangerously and without insurance.
Spun out of control
Fiscal depute Matt Piskorz told the court the crash happened near the junction with the Fife village’s Main Street.
He said: “The accused is registered as the keeper of the vehicle but does not have valid insurance.
“At approximately 4am the accused attended at the Oakley area to collect others and drive them to his home for a party.
“It was dark and conditions were wet at the time.
“The others in the car describe the accused as driving too fast and asked him to slow down.
“During the course of travel he was repeatedly driving on the opposite side of the road to avoid puddles.
“He lost control of the vehicle and spun, colliding with the front wall of a property.
“One passenger was propelled through the rear window and landed on a wall of a front garden of a property.
“The vehicle spun and came to a stop in the middle of the road.
“There was extensive damage to the vehicle.”
Relieved not to have killed anyone
He said the female escaped with a minor cut to her head and bruises across her body.
Solicitor Stephen Morrison, defending, said Lawrie had been reluctant to drive that night as he had had a drink but that a breathalyser test following the crash had been negative.
He said: “He greatly appreciates just how serious this charge is and what the consequences could have been.
“He was honest at the scene – he thought he has killed someone and was relieved on a number of levels when told that hadn’t happened.”
He said while Lawrie could not be sure of the exact speed he had been driving, he accepted it was excessive.
Begged for second chance
Sheriff Alastair Brown said Lawrie was lucky not to be facing a charge of causing death by dangerous driving.
He said: “On this occasion you were very fortunate you did not kill that girl.
“You must have been travelling at a ridiculous speed to have spun so hard that somebody was ejected from your car.”
He jailed Lawrie for 11 months and disqualified him for 32 months.
Lawrie, of Russell Avenue, Kingseat, Fife, must sit the extended driving test before he will be allowed back behind the wheel.
As he was led down to the cells, Lawrie begged Sheriff Brown for another chance.
Weeping, he said: “Please, there has to be something? I don’t want to go to jail.”
