An oil boss who crashed his car and then refused to be breathalysed has denied drinking and insists the crash happened because he wasn’t wearing his glasses.
Abdullahi Raheem was behind the wheel when his vehicle collided with parked cars and overturned in Aberdeen’s Rosemount Viaduct.
The 49-year-old oil and gas project manager maintains the early-morning crash had been caused by “tiredness” and due to him forgetting to wear his glasses rather than alcohol consumption.
His solicitor, Paul Barnett, told Aberdeen Sheriff Court that Raheem refused to take part in a breath test in the aftermath of the crash due to his suffering from a head injury.
It was a move, Mr Barnett was keen to point out, his client now “very much regrets”.
Accused crashed into parked cars
Fiscal depute Eilidh Gunn told the court that at around 3am on March 2 this year, witnesses on Rosemount Viaduct heard a “loud bang” and looked out to see a vehicle lying on its roof.
Another witness noted that two parked cars had been damaged.
Witnesses ran to help the driver out of the car as police arrived on the scene.
When officers requested that Raheem provide a specimen of breath, he “refused to comply and didn’t provide a reasonable excuse for doing so,” Ms Gunn said.
In the dock, Raheem pleaded guilty to one charge of driving without due care of attention and a second charge of failing to provide a specimen of breath for analysis.
Defence solicitor Mr Barnett told the court that his client was originally from Nigeria and described him as a “hard-working gentleman”.
He added that on the evening in question, Raheem had been visiting a friend in Aberdeen city centre and had stayed there until the early hours of the morning.
“Mr Raheem denies having consumed any alcohol,” Mr Barnett said.
“He attributes the accident to tiredness and him not wearing his glasses, which he had left at home.”
‘Wrong thing to do’
Mr Barnett stated that CCTV footage showed his client was “not driving at any great speed” and that he had “misjudged” the curvature of the road and “clipped one of the vehicles”.
“The car then overturns and Mr Raheem was bleeding from a head injury,” the solicitor went on.
“He is taken to the police station where he indicates he is still suffering from the effects of the head injury and that’s why he refused to comply with the police.
“It was very much the wrong thing to do and something that he very much regrets.”
Mr Barnett added that within subsequent police statements by officers on the scene they made no mention of smelling alcohol on his client’s breath or suspect him of having taken any other substance.
Sheriff David Nicolson fined Raheem, of King Street, Aberdeen, a total of £790 and disqualified him from driving for 12 months.
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