A drug-driver who led police on a high speed chase past a Perthshire village school has dodged a jail sentence.
Paul Booth was under the influence when he hurtled through streets in Stanley while parents were picking up their children.
He hit a car driven by a local mum, before accelerating away and ploughing into a truck.
Police had pursued the 30-year-old after seeing him speeding so fast his car nearly tipped onto two wheels as it went round a bend.
One witness, who posted about the incident on Facebook, wrote: “Some clown thinking they were Lewis Hamilton has just gone into the side of a lorry.”
Booth appeared at Perth Sheriff Court, having previously admitted dangerous driving in and around the village in March, last year.
He was warned he could have been jailed but instead, he was placed on supervision for two years and banned from driving for 18 months.
Nearly tipped over while speeding
Fiscal depute David Currie told the court: “At around 2.50pm on March 22 2021, police were on routine patrol when they noticed the accused’s grey Audi driving in the opposite direction.
“They noted that, because of the speed he was driving, the vehicle was almost tipping onto two wheels when it went round a corner.
“Police immediately turned around in an effort to stop and speak to the driver.
“However, he was lost to sight.”
Mr Currie said: “Around the same time, another motorist saw the accused’s vehicle approaching him at high speed in his rear view mirror.
“The accused went into the opposing carriageway in order to overtake him, and in doing so he negotiated a corner on the wrong side of the road.
“All this happened while the police were still trying to catch up with him.”
Two crashes
The prosecutor said officers continued to drive after Booth as he arrived in Stanley.
“He was seen weaving over the road and appeared to be trying to overtake another car.
“Blue lights were activated.”
“An off-duty police officer who was standing outside Stanley Primary School noticed the vehicle’s erratic driving.
“The accused sped off along Percy Street and almost collided with a number of parked vehicles.
“At this time, another driver saw the accused in her rear view mirror as he tried to overtake her.
“The accused went passed but hit the front of her car, causing some damage.”
The court heard he failed to slow down as he turned onto Perth Road, where he collided with a Renault tipper truck.
“The accused was cautioned by police,” said Mr Currie.
“He appeared to be under the influence of drink or drugs.
“He was confused, his speech was slurred and his pupils dilated.
“He made admissions about drugs he had taken that day.”
Jail was ‘short-sighted’ option
Booth, of Skinnergate, Perth, further admitted driving while under the influence of drink or drugs on the A94 Angus Road, near Scone, on January 6, 2021, and on Perth’s Dunkeld Road and Bute Drive on May 17, the same year.
Solicitor Jim Laverty, defending, said his client was “in the very early stages of addressing a long-standing drug addiction.
“At the time of these driving offences, he was suffering significantly from substance misuse.
“He attributed this to a number of personal difficulties.”
Mr Laverty said that jailing his client would be “short-sighted” and said unpaid work was not an option as it would interfere with his drug counselling.
Sheriff Andrew Mackie told Booth: “You will have been made aware of the very real possibility of a custodial sentence, given this course of offending.
“That is not going to happen today.
“I take account that you have spend the equivalent of a two month sentence on remand.
“And I recognise that you have taken the important step of addressing your drug problem, which led you to all this in the first place.
“For all these reasons, I propose to make a community payback order.”
In 2020, Booth was jailed for attacking a woman with a knife.
