Driver smashed into lorry after racing past Perthshire school while on drugs or drink

An under-the-influence driver smashed into a lorry after speeding past a Perthshire primary school while parents were picking up their children.

Paul Booth collided with a car driven by a local mum, before accelerating away and swerving into oncoming traffic.

The 30-year-old was arrested in Stanley’s King Street after he drove his grey Audi into a Renault tipper truck.

Witnesses said armed officers were scrambled to the scene, while Booth was seen being led into the back of a waiting police car.

One local, posting about the incident on Facebook, wrote: “Some clown thinking they were Lewis Hamilton has just gone into the side of a lorry.”

Booth, who was jailed in 2020 for attacking a woman with a knife, appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and admitted dangerous driving in and around the village in March, last year.

He will be sentenced next month.

‘Thinks he’s Lewis Hamilton’

The court heard Booth was seen driving at excessive speed along the unclassified Balathie to Kinclaven road on the afternoon of March 22, last year.

He admitted overtaking another vehicle while it was not safe to do so.

Booth continued speeding along the B9099 Stanley to Murthly road, where he drove “in an erratic manner” and swerved onto the wrong side of the road into the path of oncoming traffic.

Several minutes later, he was seen speeding along Perth Road, Percy Street and Charlotte Street in Stanley, near the village primary school, where he narrowly avoided hitting a string of parked cars.

He smashed into a car driven by a local mum, before he continued onto King Street and drove into the opposite carriageway.

The court heard he failed to slow down as he turned onto Perth Road, where he collided with the lorry.

The crash happened just before 3pm, when parents were arriving to collect their children.

Booth, of Skinnergate, Perth, admitted he was high on drink or drugs at the time.

He further pled guilty to driving while under the influence of drink or drugs on the A94 Angus Road, Scone, on January 6, 2021, and on Perth’s Dunkeld Road and Bute Drive on May 17, the same year.

Plea for one last chance

Solicitor Jim Laverty, defending, said a social work report previously called for by the court was not ready.

“This is entirely Mr Booth’s fault,” Mr Laverty said.

“He is well aware of the position he has placed himself in.

“I ask that the court give him one final opportunity to cooperate with the social work team.”

The court heard Booth had physically suffered through “serious complications” in relation to drug misuse.

Sheriff Robert Vaughan agreed to defer sentence for background reports until September 7.

He said he would not impose an interim driving ban, because Booth is already disqualified in relation to a separate driving offence.

History of violence

Last month, Booth walked free from court after allegations he robbed his ex-partner at knifepoint and stole her dog were thrown out.

The case was deserted by Sheriff William Wood after he was told Booth’s alleged victim had failed to attend court to give evidence for the third time.

Booth, who appeared in court with his arm in a sling, was jailed for two years in 2020 after a jury found him guilty of armed assault in the city’s Nimmo Avenue.

He was originally accused of pulling a knife on a dog and threatening to slit its throat, but jurors deleted this part of the charge.

In May 2012, Booth was locked up for three years after hurling a rock from a flyover on the A9 and striking a car which had baby and child passengers.

The previous year he torched a handbag containing aerosols, causing it to explode and injure a pregnant woman.

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