A teenage biker who rode “like a maniac” around Perth city centre was so dangerous that police had to give up their pursuit of him.
Harry Trueland, 19, from Auchtermuchty, was caught driving his motorbike dangerously around central Perth twice in the space of a month.
He sped off when he realised police wanted to stop him then ran red lights and drove the wrong way down a one-way street.
Perth Sheriff Court heard Trueland forced oncoming motorists to swerve out of his way to avoid colliding with him as officers called off their chase.
Sheriff Lindsay Foulis told him: “You were driving like a maniac around the centre of Perth. The second time was during the rush hour and the danger you presented to all road users was obvious.”
He went on: “These are serious offences. It is not common for someone to appear in this court and be convicted of two charges of dangerous driving within a month of one another.
“When you set off you have no control over the consequences of your driving. All that is required is for someone else not to be able to react to your driving.”
Trueland admitted driving dangerously in Perth during separate incidents in September and October last year.
Depute fiscal Matthew Kerr said police initially pulled Trueland over, but as they got out to approach him, he sped off on the motorcycle and headed for the city centre at speed.
“The police activated blue lights and followed him,” he said.
“He was observed on the wrong side of the road, past a ‘no entry’ sign and went the wrong way down a one-way street.
“He was going at excessive speed in an attempt to evade the police.
“Given the nature of the accused’s driving, officers did not follow him.”
A few weeks later Trueland drove in a similar fashion around Perth and a number of other motorists were forced to swerve out of his way.
Solicitor Pauline Cullerton said he understood the error of his ways.
She said: “He had previous dealings with police and panicked when he saw them. He realises that was not the correct thing to do.”
She said Trueland was about to start work at McDiarmid Park and hoped to qualify as a personal trainer.
He was banned from driving for a year and ordered to carry out 120 hours unpaid work for the first offence. He had sentence deferred for good behaviour on the second.
