A dangerous speeding driver first noted by police because of the strong waft of cannabis from his car as he drove past them has been banned for a year, fined £180 and ordered him to carry out 135 hours unpaid work.
Officers chased Sol Heary as he drove erratically and when he was eventually stopped following a pursuit involving three police units, he was found to have £310 worth of cannabis in wraps in his car.
Heary, 21, from Dundee, admitted possessing the drugs and driving dangerously and at excessive speed on the A85 between Methven and Perth on 19 September 2022.
Fiscal depute Lora Apostolova told Perth Sheriff Court: “At 10.10 am two officers saw the car driven by the accused and noted a smell of cannabis.
“They realised the smell of cannabis was from the accused’s car.”
They were joined in their pursuit by two other officers driving in the opposite direction
Ms Apostolova said: “He continued to drive at high speed, passing a number of cars.
“A third pair of officers traced him in a car park. He was searched and a quantity of cannabis was found.”
Solicitor John Boyle, defending, said: “He does seem to have learned some lessons. He is no longer using cannabis.”
Sheriff Jennifer Bain KC said: “You appreciate tour actions were reckless and you endangered the well-being of other road users including police officers.”
Faces prison
Clark Smith, 33, faces a lengthy prison sentence after being found guilty of raping a woman and sexually assaulting a 14-year-old child. A jury determined he committed the offences in Dundee in 2022 and 2015, respectively.
Poor response
A volunteer First Responder has been allowed to keep her licence after causing a collision on a rural Perthshire road.
Elaine Moffat, of Strowan Road, Comrie, drove off after colliding with a trailer during a botched overtaking manoeuvre on the A827 Lix Toll to Ballinluig road, near Killin.
The 51-year-old passed one vehicle, before returning to her lane and squeezing between it and another vehicle in front.
Fiscal depute Lindsey Brooks told Stirling Sheriff Court the first driver had to brake to avoid a collision.
While returning to the correct lane, the nearside of Moffat’s Toyota Aygo hit a trailer being towed by the vehicle in front.
She stopped briefly before driving off and another motorist, concerned for her welfare, followed her into Killin, where she parked at her dental clinic workplace.
She later attended voluntarily at a police station and in court, pled guilty to driving carelessly on November 24 last year and failing to report an accident within 24 hours.
The court heard she was the only person injured in the collision, suffering a cut to her head.
Told a driving ban could affect her role as a First Responder, Sheriff Mark O’Hanlon fined her £700 and imposed six penalty points on her licence.
Transatlantic dealer
An engineering student from Dundee worked as a transatlantic drug dealer. Chishimba Chiti was involved in the onward supply of cannabis from Tayside to as far afield as Arizona, between February 2021 and April 2022.
Prison plea
A Fife man who turned up at Dunfermline police station with two kitchen knives and asked to be jailed had his wish granted.
William Vanbeck previously pled guilty to possessing the knives without lawful authority on October 9 last year.
The 45-year-old appeared for sentencing at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court by video link to prison and was given a 20-month sentence, backdated to October 10 last year.
Prosecutor Sarah Wilkinson told the court previously Vanbeck had attended the rear custody area of the police station with a kitchen knife in each hand at around 10:55pm on October 9.
He was heard banging on the custody suite area shouting: “I just want to go to jail.”
When police asked if he had a reasonable excuse for having the blades, he said: “I am guilty, I just want to do anything to get back to prison.”
Defence lawyer Elizabeth Dryburgh said her client has struggled in the community and to get support.
The solicitor said he was only at liberty for less than a month, having previously admitted a similar offence by arriving at Levenmouth police station on Christmas Day
2021 carrying a knife with a 13-inch blade and telling police he “wanted lifted”.
He was jailed for ten months that time.
Prison slasher
A man serving life for firebombing a mosque has been jailed for a further decade for launching a campaign of terror in which he slashed sex offenders in Perth Prison. Thomas Connington, 36, was given an order for lifelong restriction (OLR) in June 2017 for launching a Molotov cocktail at Edinburgh’s Central Mosque. He has since subjected fellow inmates at HMP Perth to a series of savage assaults.
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