An Aberdeen mum has appeared in the court after flying into a “rage” and targeting a motorist in a road rage incident.
Michelle Kinnaird was in a passenger in her former partner’s Hyundai Tucson estate, with her children in the back, when the incident happened in Aberdeen on March 27 last year.
As they headed down Elmbank Terrace, a blue Mini Cooper began edging out of a junction ahead of them – forcing Ms Kinnarid’s ex to brake suddenly, causing them all to “jolt forward” in their seats.
The Hyundai began to follow the Mini, with Kinnaird sticking a finger out of the window to make a rude gesture at the woman behind the wheel.
Another motorist witnessed the Hyundai travelling in an “aggressive manner” as it continued to tail the Mini, before both stopped at traffic lights on Mounthooly Way.
At Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday, fiscal depute Christie Ward said the Hyundai flashed its lights at the Mini before Kinnaird, 34, escalated the situation further.
“She exited the vehicle and approached the driver side of the Mini,” Ms Ward said. “She began hitting it with an open palm, approximately six times.
“She was in a state of rage, shouting that she would ‘batter them’.
“They felt intimidated and petrified by her behaviour.”
Kinnaird yesterday admitted acting in a threatening and abusive manner.
Her solicitor Paul Barnett said: “She readily accepts she should have dealt with the situation differently.”
Kinnaird, of Cornhill Terrace, was ordered to carry out 40 hours of unpaid work and given six months of social work supervision.
Sheriff Morag McLaughlin said: “This must have been a frightening incident for the people in the car you approached.”