A dad who ploughed his car through a brick wall did it because he was concussed after banging his head while sledging with his kids two days before, a court has been told.
Christopher Farmer, 48, was spotted driving “at high speed” and “in an erratic manner” in Wick and ended up smashing into a wall at the town’s Co-op supermarket.
A roadside breath test came back negative but he was diagnosed with possible concussion after being taken to hospital for a check-up following the incident.
Farmer was not present when the case called for sentencing at Tain Sheriff Court, having pled guilty to a single charge of careless driving at a previous hearing.
Fiscal depute Hilary Michopoulou told the court the incident took place on February 14 last year at around 12.30pm.
She said a witness noticed Farmer driving down Newton Road in Wick erratically and at high speed and said he was “swerving to avoid the traffic islands”.
Farmer then hit a kerb, before colliding with the back end of another vehicle.
‘No attempt to slow down’
“The witness noticed that the accused was making no attempt to slow down or stop,” Mrs Michopoulou said.
The court heard the witness followed Farmer to the nearby Co-op supermarket where he was seen standing by his car inspecting the damage.
He went into the store and then returned to his vehicle, driving off at “substantial speed” before swerving onto a grass verge.
Mrs Michopoulou said: “He mounted the pavement, knocking over metal signage and a substantial amount of the brick wall.”
“Police arrived to see the car among a pile of debris,” she added.
Breath alcohol tests on Farmer came back negative and he complied with all the procedures that followed.
Neil Wilson, solicitor for Farmer, told the court that his client’s driving on that day was seemingly “inexplicable” but said it was likely due to a head injury he had sustained earlier in the week.
“Some two days prior to this incident he was out sledging in the snow with his children and banged his head,” he said.
Driver was ‘odd and sluggish’
“His wife said he was behaving in an odd and sluggish manner in the two days between the sledging accident and this incident.”
He said that his client had been taken to hospital for a check-up following the driving incident where he received a diagnosis of possible concussion – a condition that can cause problems with concentration and coordination.
However, he conceded that his client ought to have known not to drive.
“He should have been fully aware enough not to be driving,” he said.
The court heard that Farmer’s insurance had covered damage to vehicles and that he himself had paid for the damage to the wall outside the supermarket.
Sheriff Robert McDonald said the incident represented “very poor driving”.
He banned Farmer, of Newton Hill, Wick, from the roads for three months and fined him £640.
