A man caught driving while disqualified on 25 previous occasions has been locked up and banned from the roads for life.
Sheriff Sara Matheson told Allan Scott he has the worst driving record she has ever seen and said there was “no alternative” except a period of imprisonment.
Scott, 39, had already racked up more than two dozen convictions for ignoring court-imposed driving bans when police caught him behind the wheel on the Black Isle on October 4 this year.
As well as being uninsured, he also accelerated away from the officers, narrowly missing one.
Scott, 39, appeared via videolink at Inverness Sheriff Court yesterday for sentencing on charges of driving whilst disqualified, driving with no insurance and dangerous driving.
The incident happened on Millbank Road, Munlochy, and Scott accelerated away from police at speed through residential areas with a 20mph speed limit and on roads around Resolis and Culbokie.
‘Excessive speeds’
Scott also drove “in close proximity” to an officer as he failed to stop and travelled at “excessive speeds for the road”.
Scott’s solicitor Alexandra Short told the court her client was someone who struggled with his mental health and would get behind the wheel as a way of addressing those issues.
She told Sheriff Sara Matheson that Scott had “panicked” when officers tried to stop him.
“He is aware that he shouldn’t be driving at all,” she conceded.
Sheriff Matheson told Scott: “You have got the worst record for driving whilst disqualified that I have ever seen.
“I counted 25 convictions in relation to this offence, which is in itself a serious offence.
“I can see no alternative but to impose a prison sentence.”
She jailed Scott, of St Fillans Place, Dundee, for eight months backdated to October 5 of this year.
Sheriff Matheson also banned him from the roads for life.
