A young driver who almost crashed while “showing off” his handbrake turns in a supermarket car park has been warned he must “grow up” if he wants to keep his driving licence.
Jacob Henderson, who has an “appalling driving record”, was caught doing handbrake turns at 40mph and fleeing police at 70mph in a car that didn’t have an MOT.
Fiscal depute Susan Love told Elgin Sheriff Court that police were first called to the Tesco car park at Moss Street in Keith around 10pm on November 26, 2020.
She described how the then 18-year-old’s grey BMW was seen travelling at approximately 40mph before its brakes locked up near the trolley bay.
“He lost control and narrowly missed colliding with a staff member’s parked vehicle,” she added.
“Police attended and viewed CCTV and the accused later identified himself as the driver.”
Undeterred by that brush with the law, he later drove the same car despite it having failed its MOT with bald tyres and brakes “ground down to the metal”.
The court heard that when officers spotted his vehicle looking less than roadworthy on the B9116 Newmill-to-Keith Road on June 24 last year, he led them on a “highly dangerous” chase.
As police approached his vehicle to discuss defects, Henderson sped off towards the New Mill turn-off and made “good ground away from them” despite their blue lights flashing.
“Police hit 70mph trying to catch him as he entered the built-up area of Keith,” the fiscal said. “They slowed to 40 at Keith and he was lost to sight.
“Officers believed that had he encountered other vehicles leaving Keith it could have been a serious, if not fatal, incident.”
When they paid Henderson a visit at his Keith home he told them: “I don’t know what you are talking about” but later admitted: “I am sorry, I was stupid.”
Henderson, now 20, admitted two counts of careless driving, failing to stop for police, driving with bare tyres and with defective brakes.
‘He was showing off’
His defence agent Matthew O’Neill said there was a “degree of immaturity” to his client’s offending but said Henderson had since moved to the Scottish Borders for work and to “get away from negative influences around him”.
The solicitor put the handbrake turns incident down to “showing off late at night”.
“In the cold light of day he realises it was extremely foolish,” he added. “He lost control of the car and it could’ve been much more serious than, thankfully, it was.”
Mr O’Neill said his client had fled from police at the later date because: “He knew his car had failed its MOT and he realised he shouldn’t have been on the road.
“He saw the police and panicked and tried to get away from them.”
The solicitor stressed that Henderson’s new job at a farm in Kelso relied on him retaining his licence and suggested that giving him 11 points and leaving him just shy of a roads ban would be “putting a great deal of trust in Mr Henderson”.
‘Drive as if you are wearing a strait jacket’
Sheriff Peter Anderson agreed, but stressed to Henderson that he now had a “highly irresponsible and unenviable driving record”.
“Your driving was appalling,” he said. “Not only did you carry out handbrake turns to show off in the car park but you ignored blue lights from police and sped off in a highly dangerous way.
“It was very stupid and very childish. There’s no doubt that you need to grow up if you haven’t done that already.
“From now on you drive as if you are wearing a straitjacket.
“If you see a 20 sign you drive at 15. If you see a 30 sign you drive at 20 and so on.
“You obey every road traffic law you can find to obey.
“You can count yourself lucky I’m not taking away your licence.
“But you have 11 points on your licence. That will cost you dear anytime you try to insure your car and it means you must drive as if you have the proverbial glass of water on the bonnet of your car. You mustn’t spill it.”
Also admitted abusing ex
Henderson, of Leggars Farm Cottages, Kelso, was fined a total of £1,060 and handed 11 penalty points.
He also admitted a further domestic abuse charge during the same hearing.
The court heard how he shouted and screamed at his ex-girlfriend on various occasions in May 2018 whereby he controlled her behaviour and told her she couldn’t remain friends with other males.
£200 of his total fine was attributed to the “desperately unpleasant and controlling behaviour” he showed his ex-girlfriend.
