A drink-drive suspect crashed his BMW after a “high intensity” 90mph police chase through rural Perthshire.
Matthew Dorans tried to escape on foot after the pursuit but was caught trying to jump over a hedge.
During his trial at Perth Sheriff Court, the 48-year-old claimed he had refused to be breathalysed because he was worried hand sanitiser could affect his reading.
Dorans collapsed in the courtroom after a jury found him guilty of six out of seven offences.
Sheriff William Wood deferred sentence and told Dorans he faces a minimum three-year driving ban.
Jury’s verdict
Dorans, of Wolfhill, near Coupar Angus, failed to stop for police on the A93 Blairgowrie-Perth road, the court heard.
Pursuing officers said he veered across the road and nearly hit an oncoming car before crashing into a grass verge.
Jurors found him guilty of careless driving, failing to comply with a roadside breath test and later, failing to provide samples of breath at Dundee police HQ.
Dorans was also convicted of having a lock knife and struggling violently with police as they apprehended him.
The jury found an allegation he assaulted Sergeant Peter Milne by trapping his arm inside his car and dragging him as he drove off not proven.
Found at roadside
PC Connor McRae, 28, told the trial he was on routine patrol just after 8pm on January 5 2022 when he spotted Dorans’ BMW parked on the roadside about a mile north of Old Scone.
It had its engine running and hazard lights on, the officer said.
He pulled up alongside and spoke to Dorans in the driver’s seat.
“I asked if he was okay and needed help.
“He said ‘no’. He had a blank expression and his eyes were glazed over.
“It was pretty clear he was under the influence of alcohol.”
The officers parked behind Dorans’ car and PC McRae approached his door and again asked if he was okay.
The officer said Dorans replied: “No, f*** off. I don’t need your help.”
By this point PC McRae noticed he was slurring his words and smelling of alcohol so asked him to step out to be breathalysed but: “He refused to provide a specimen of breath.
“At that point, he rolled up his window and locked the door.”
Dorans accelerated away while Sgt Milne attempted to unlock his driver’s door by reaching in through an open back window.
Crashed after police pursuit
The officers pursued Dorans with sirens and flashing lights as he hit speeds of up to 90mph, PC McRae told the court.
“He was driving erratically, on both sides of the carriageway.
“There wasn’t a lot of traffic but there was one vehicle that came round a bend and he almost collided with it.”
PC McRae said Dorans “took a left hand turn too quickly”.
“He lost control and crashed on the left hand side.
“We pulled up behind the vehicle and saw a person running away.
“I immediately got out and ran after him, with PC Milne just behind me.”
The court heard Dorans tried to jump over a hedge but fell back and PC McRae caught him.
Dorans was searched and found to be have a lock knife tucked into his waistband.
The trial was told other police units attended at the crash site, as well as members of Dorans’ family.
‘Justice is mine’
Dorans broke down in the dock as he told jurors about the four-and-a-half months he spent on remand.
He said he caught scabies from his cellmate, who also contracted Covid.
“It’s not just me who is on trial,” he said.
“My wife has been through absolute hell.”
Dorans denied all charges, claiming he declined to be breathalysed because he did not trust police not to tamper with his sample and hand sanitiser in the room could affect the recording.
He said the police who spoke to him at the roadside were “aggressive” and giving him “unlawful orders.”
In his closing speech, he told the jury: “We need more love in the world and less hate.”
He ended with the words: “Justice is mine, vengeance is for my masters and my God.”
Fiscal depute Joanne Ritchie told jurors the trial was not about “fanciful conspiracy theories about hand sanitiser.
“Nor was it about police putting their careers on the line to mislead you all.”
She said: “This was a fast-developing situation which escalated quickly into a high intensity police chase.
“Police spoke of an abusive and belligerent man who refused comply with them.”
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