A Dyce man narrowly avoided jail after getting involved in a drunken fight before chasing one of his attackers and hitting them with a car.
David Spence had been drinking at his work’s Christmas night out when he arranged for his mother to come and pick him up.
But when she arrived, she found him fighting with a group of men on Aberdeen’s Dee Street.
Scared for Spence’s safety, his mum got out of the car and tried to intervene in the scuffle before the gang of youths fled the scene.
However, the 23-year-old, who had suffered a bloody nose, was annoyed the men had got the better of him, so he got into the car and took off down the road.
He proceeded to drive dangerously by making his way into the opposing carriageway of Langstane Place before crashing into one of the men who attacked him.
Yesterday, Spence appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and admitted carrying out a string of charges against him on December 13 last year.
The court heard that, after the crash, he mounted the pavement, where he stopped the car.
His mum, who had caught up with him by then, proceeded to get into the driver’s seat and drove away from the scene.
However, the court heard that police on mobile patrol had been told about the incident and stopped the car.
Spence subsequently denied being the driver of the car at the time of the collision and headbutted PC Kyle Robertson.
Fiscal depute Jennifer Pritchard said that, when he was taken to the police station, officers found he had 77 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.
He also admitted acting in a threatening and abusive manner towards another officer while in police custody.
Representing the repeat offender, solicitor advocate Gail Goodfellow said her client had made significant changes to his lifestyle since he committed the offence.
She said Spence, of 13 Fifehill Park, Dyce, had stopped drinking and spent his spare time looking after his son and improving his fitness.
She said he accepted he had committed a “catalogue of disgraceful behaviour” and was remorseful for his actions.
Sheriff William Taylor said he hoped Spence appreciated that the court was “seriously considering a custodial sentence”.
However, he said he felt that, in the public interest, he would allow him one further chance to avoid jail.
Spence was disqualified from driving for a year and ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work in the community.
