A pair of midnight speeders were clocked at 101mph on the A92 in Fife after police spotted them sitting side-by-side in a slip lane.
Jonas Mesa’s Tesla and Christopher Grant’s Mercedes had been stationary in the on-slip to the dual carriageway before accelerating off in front of a marked police car.
Mesa, 32, and Grant, 31, both of Rosyth, were originally accused of racing each other as part of a dangerous driving charge.
But defence lawyers told Dunfermline Sheriff Court the pair had stopped on the road to check Grant’s car, which had been picked up from a garage that evening.
They pled guilty to a reduced charge of driving without due care and attention, at excessive speed on the A92 between Kirkcaldy West and Cowdenbeath.
Their lawyers said dashcam footage showed they were moving between lanes to overtake other cars and “travelling in convoy a significant distance apart”, as opposed to racing and preventing each other overtaking.
The court heard the prosecution took no issue with this position, having viewed the footage.
101mph
Procurator fiscal depute Amy Robertson told the court a marked police car had been patrolling the A92 when officers spotted two stationary vehicles side-by-side on a westbound on-slip, just before midnight on March 17.
Ms Robertson said officers saw the vehicles accelerate along the slip road to the main carriageway.
They followed and watched the cars moving between lanes.
The fiscal depute said: “Officers maintained a steady gap with the vehicles and upon comparing speed, their speedometer read 101mph.
“Both vehicles were seen to be driving at that speed.
“Officers overtook the first vehicle, a Tesla Model 3 and caught up with the Mercedes E class vehicle.
“Officers thereafter activated their blue lights and signalled for them to stop in a layby, with both vehicles doing so.”
Driving ‘in convoy’
Defence lawyer Kris Buchanan, representing Grant, of Whinnyburn Place, said Mesa had driven his client to pick up his car after they finished work.
He said when police saw them, they were speaking through their windows to make sure everything with the car was okay before parting.
The solicitor said Grant, a first offender who wraps cars in protective foil for a living, accepts then passing some vehicles on the dual carriageway and reaching excessive speed.
Mesa’s defence lawyer, Robert Sheridan, said it was “unusual” for police to find two vehicles in that situation but the dashcam footage made their subsequent actions clear.
The solicitor said: “Nothing suggests in any way competition – quite rightly it (the racing element of the charge) has been deleted”.
He stressed the dashcam footage suggests Mesa, of Parkside Street, was at 101mph for two to three seconds while accelerating to overtake another vehicle, before moving back to the inside lane and reducing his speed.
The court heard Mesa, who runs his own fledgling business consultancy company, has previously accrued fixed penalty points for speeding.
Mr Sheridan said the impact of Mesa losing his licence would be “catastrophic,” as he needs to be able drive across the country to secure fresh business and maintain relationships.
He said Mesa has invested a substantial amount of money in the new business and is currently in £30,000 debt and also has around £25,000 outstanding to be paid for his wedding next year
‘Stupid temptation’
Sheriff Peter Anderson told Mesa and Grant they both “fell into the stupid temptation” to drive at high speed because it was late at night, without much traffic on the road.
He said: “Even if it’s correct to say a speed of 100mph plus for a brief spell, it’s still far too fast”.
The sheriff fined Grant £600 and gave him seven penalty points.
He fined Mesa £500 and said he could not ignore the fact speeding was a reason for being given penalty points previously, banning him for three months.
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