A former police officer has been banned from the road after running a red light while on duty and smashing into two cars.
Natasha Watt admitted dangerous driving when she appeared in court yesterday.
The 23-year-old had been a constable for four years when the smash happened.
She later quit the force.
Watt, who appeared in an online promotional video for Grampian Police in 2010 when she was a cadet, passed her driving test in March 2014 and attended a police driver training unit in November.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard yesterday that the former officer, who was based at Kittybrewster, was deemed a basic driver, but had not been trained to use emergency response equipment on vehicles.
She had signed a form stating she would not use such equipment.
At 3.25pm on November 20, 2014 she and a colleague received an emergency call after a man barricaded himself inside a house.
The court was told that Watt and a fellow constable heard a colleague scream over the radio, and in response turned on the blue lights.
Fiscal depute Linzi Souter said officers were already at the scene and needed assistance.
At that point Watt and her colleague were the only ones asked to attend to help.
The court heard that Watt was driving in Aberdeen’s Clifton Road, Aberdeen at 15mph and dropped her speed to 10mph at the junction with Hilton Street and Leslie Road.
Ms Souter said two vehicles collided with the police car, which had blue lights but no siren sounding.
The police car was damaged on both sides, and one of the other vehicles had turned 90 degrees with “substantial frontal damage”.
Ms Souter said the car was a write-off, and the other vehicle involved had frontal damage and “fairly minor damage”.
The fiscal depute said: “The accused and her colleague both got out of the vehicle. An ambulance had been called and it was noted that the accused was the only person who had any injuries.
“She was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and was treated for whiplash but was discharged later that evening.”
Watt’s lawyer said she believed her colleagues were in danger and urged Sheriff Alison Stirling to give her an absolute discharge.
She added: “She understood that if she presses one button, a 999 button, it will activate the sirens as well as the blue lights.
“She did not appreciate in that vehicle she would have had to press an additional button to activate the sirens.”
The lawyer said Watt could not see any vehicles as she moved into the junction and proceeded through it at a slow speed.
“She now accepts she should have come to a complete stop,” she said
“It was a split-second misjudgement.”
The court was told that Watt, who lives with her parents at Kintore, was now working as a residential support worker in Gamrie – making an 80-mile round-trip each day.
Sheriff Stirling banned Watt from driving for a year and fined her £720.
A police spokesman said last night: “We note the guilty plea today entered by Natasha Watt in relation to a dangerous driving incident in November 2014.
“Police officers and staff are subject to the same traffic regulations as members of the public and anyone found to breach these will be dealt with appropriately.”
But former Grampian Joint Police Board convener and city councillor Martin Greig said the punishment was unduly harsh.
He said: “I think we have to accept there are circumstances where individuals can make mistakes and it’s regrettable when there is an error of judgment, but it is important to give individuals the benefit of the doubt.
“It is vital to be more sympathetic to the challenges facing officers in a difficult situation and I think in this case the decision seems unduly harsh where there would have been additional alternatives to ensure there was an element of punishment and the opportunity to bring something constructive out of this regrettable incident.”