A 22-year-old property developer has been banned from driving after he was found guilty of careless driving on the A9.
David McClements of Dunham House, Chester, was convicted yesterday following a trial at Tain Sheriff Court.
The court heard McClements had been driving at around 40mph in his Mercedes C-class before he deliberately sped up when a woman attempted to overtake him on the trunk road between Tain and the junction leading to Fearn.
The female driver, Caroline McGougan, was taking her 70-year-old mother Sarah to visit her seriously ill father in Raigmore, and was forced to pull back in behind McClements’ vehicle.
Giving evidence yesterday, she said she felt he was “messing about” with his passenger Paul Ashford, also from Cheshire.
The court heard Ms McGougan pulled into a lay-by to allow a couple of cars to get between herself and McClements’ car.
However, she ended up behind it again after the Nigg roundabout.
She said McClements indicated that he intended to make a right hand turn into Milton at the Kiladry junction – only to make a sudden movement back to the left, causing her to swerve to avoid an accident.
McClements and his passenger Mr Ashford both gave evidence yesterday, and claimed they had been travelling at a constant speed set by the Mercedes’ cruise control.
McClements, who denied the careless driving charge, suggested Ms McGougan had been “driving erratically” and trying to force her way past.
However, Sheriff Jamie Gilchrist said he had not been convinced by his evidence.
He fined McClements £1,000 and banned him from driving for six months.