A scallop diver tailgated a female motorist, forced her into an emergency stop, and kicked her car door during a road rage “temper tantrum”.
Scott Mackenzie, 26, chased after the woman when she swerved to avoid hitting his BMW 6 Series, which he’d nosed out of an Inverness street on July 11 2022.
He tailgated the 53-year-old from Fairfield Road to Dochfour Drive, where he cut a corner to overtake her and forced the lady to make an emergency stop.
Mackenzie then went to confront the other driver and kicked her car door, not realising she was opening it.
The kick dented the panel and the door sprung back, hitting the woman’s head and leg.
He was angry and had ‘a temper tantrum’
In the dock at Inverness Sheriff Court, Mackenzie was found guilty of culpable and reckless conduct, dangerous driving and malicious damage during a trial.
He’d tried to fight the charges, although admitted that on the day in question, he was angry and had “a temper tantrum”.
Mackenzie claimed his victim was driving at excessive speed and caused a “near miss” at the Lochalsh Road junction.
And he also accused the woman and her daughter of making offensive gestures at him out the window before he caught up with the pair.
But both women, who also gave evidence during the trial, strongly denied the allegations.
The driver of the other vehicle, Tracy Macpherson, 53, said: “I don’t do road rage. We had right of way on Fairfield Road and I had to swerve to avoid him.”
She also stressed she was travelling at only 20mph while Mackenzie claimed it was “over 30, maybe 40mph”.
A 70-year-old Inverness taxi driver, who witnessed the incident, added: “It was quite dramatic as he cut the corner and cut across her car”.
Fined and banned from driving
Sheriff Robert Frazer found Mackenzie, of Bruce Avenue in Inverness, guilty of the charges.
The offender was fined a total of £1,040 and banned from driving for a year.
He will also have to sit the extended driving test of competency.
But Mackenzie’s defence solicitor Graham Mann said: “He earns £40,000 a year and has to travel to his work, making his way to Mallaig and back again.
“This will cause gim difficulties.”
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