Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Booze-fuelled Fyvie man sabotaged car’s tyre – causing driver to crash into wall

Matthew O'Neill admitted the threatening behaviour at Banff Sheriff Court
Matthew O'Neill appeared at Banff Sheriff Court.

A drunken Fyvie man sabotaged a car after being “egged on by his friend” – causing the tyre to deflate and then crash into a wall.

Matthew O’Neill was caught on CCTV in broad daylight cutting the valve off the car’s rear passenger-side tyre in Turriff.

Its unsuspecting owner later drove more than 10 miles from Turriff to Auchterless unaware of the damage and that he was driving on a completely flat tyre.

It soon became apparent to the driver, however, when he lost control of the car and it crashed into a wall.

Fiscal depute Victoria Kerr told Banff Sheriff Court how O’Neill was spotted on the town’s Fife Street at around 1pm on June 1, 2019.

She said the car’s owner was later driving it when he “lost control of the vehicle” and damaged its bumper when he crashed into a wall.

“He thought he had suffered a puncture at first,” she said. “But later on he noted the valve appeared to have been cut off.

“CCTV was viewed and it showed two males approaching the parked vehicle. The accused was seen bending down near the read side and tampering with it with both hands. He had a pair of snippers or similar in his hands.”

After police recognised the 22-year-old from the footage he was traced and arrested.

O’Neill was sentenced at Banff Sheriff Court.

Defence agent Leonard Burkinshaw said the self-employed tradesman had been “egged on” and now fully regrets his “stupid” decision.

“I am somewhat surprised the driver managed to drive the car from Turriff to Auchterless as I would imagine the tyre would be completely flat,” he said.

“It seems that he was egged on to do this, while drunk, by the other person who had a beef with the owner of the car.

“He stupidly joined in with that person in the enterprise. He was foolish and he regrets it.”

O’Neill admitted a charge of malicious damage by striking a car wing mirror and another of culpable and reckless conduct, while acting alongside a minor, by cutting off the tyre valve.

‘You are lucky’

Sheriff Robert MacDonald said he estimated the car owner would have been out of pocket by at least £100.

“I hope you realise just how stupid a thing that was to do,” he said.

“You may have thought someone would come out and just see a flat tyre but we have in fact heard how this gentleman drove a considerable distance before he had a crash because of this.

“You are lucky there was no more serious damage or a serious injury.”

He ordered O’Neill, of Willowbank, Fyvie, to pay his victim compensation of £150 and pay an additional £400 fine.

O’Neill said from the dock: “I’m sorry. I know it was stupid.”

For all the latest court cases in Aberdeen, as well as the latest crime and breaking incidents, join our new Facebook group HERE.