A former Fife police officer has been convicted of carrying out an unlawful pursuit and of attacking a “frightened” man by repeatedly smacking him with a baton as he lay face down on the ground.
Jack Brownlee had denied both allegations but was found guilty at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court last week after a lengthy trial.
Brownlee, who has since left the force to run his own business, was convicted of assault and driving recklessly.
The ex-PC was fined £3,000 – plus a £175 victim surcharge – and ordered to pay £600 compensation to the man he assaulted.
Sheriff Elizabeth McFarlane also disqualified Brownlee from driving for a year.
Unlawful chase
The trial heard evidence Brownlee hit speeds of more than 100mph while pursuing an uninsured driver through residential Fife streets on April 7 2021.
Brownlee carried out a number of “high risk” moves as he followed the motorist on a circular route for around 20 minutes.
He passed along Windygates Road in Leven, the A915, Glenlyon Road, Riverside Road, the Bawbee Roundabout, Wellesley Road, Methil Brae and South Street in Methil before reaching Toboggan Road.
At one point, Brownlee drove through roadworks at 65mph.
Dashcam footage from his BMW X5 showed him driving at 33mph along a footpath, speeding over pedestrian crossings and going the wrong way round roundabouts.
The 29-year-old claimed that at no point did he consider the chase to be unsafe and said he was constantly making risk assessments during the 20-minute pursuit.
But the trial heard from Inspector Colin Reid, head of driver training for Police Scotland, who said Brownlee should have swapped seats with his more highly-trained colleague who was in the passenger seat.
The inspector also said the pursuit of the Seat car should have been called off at an earlier stage.
Brownlee was trained to “intermediate” level, which allowed him to drive during the initial phase of a pursuit but lacked the advanced driver training needed to bring it to an end.
Turned violent
The court also previously heard from a man who was in the rear of the vehicle being pursued, who told of his terror as he was beaten with a baton by Brownlee.
James Smith said he was an unwilling participant in the chase and became stuck in the vehicle when the driver, who cannot be named for legal reasons, stopped and ran off when the chase concluded in Methil’s Toboggan Road.
The 22-year-old said he was left severely bruised after being pulled from the car and hit across the legs by Brownlee.
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