A terrified college student ran over her boyfriend in her car as she fled from him after an angry row.
Witnesses watched in horror as two wheels of Victoria Smith’s vehicle went over the top of Neil Johnson.
He had been knocked on to the bonnet and then fell under the moving car.
Quantity surveying student Smith – who is from the Fraserburgh area but is studying in Inverness – claimed he ran in front of the car to try to damage it.
Mr Johnson, from Harrogate in Yorkshire, had been visiting her in the Highland capital when the incident happened.
But the couple – who have since split up – argued and 32-year-old Smith ran to her vehicle in a hotel car park and drove off in fear.
One witness told Inverness Sheriff Court yesterday that he had seen Mr Johnson standing in front of the car.
Douglas Loughren, 53, from Inverness, told fiscal depute Ross Carvel: “I didn’t see what happened beforehand.
“When I approached the car park, I saw him standing in front of the car with his hands on the bonnet.
“There was not a quick acceleration but she kept moving forward, maintaining a constant speed.
“There was no braking as she ran over him and then drove off.”
Mr Loughren added: “I saw the car bump up and down twice as the two wheels went over him.
“The car drove off and he was lying unconscious on the road. He came to and was talking gibberish. Then he complained of a sore leg and tried to get up. I phoned 999.”
A 17-year-old youth who also witnessed the incident told Sheriff Margaret Neilson: “The man was about to cross the road when the car turned out of the car park and hit him.
“It then drove off. It was coming out at a normal speed. I don’t know what his intentions were but it didn’t look like he threw himself in front of the car.”
Asked by Smith’s defence agent solicitor Duncan Henderson if the man could have caused the collision by stepping in front of the car, the teenager said: “It could have been. But it was highly unlikely because the car would have had a good view of him.”
Smith, of the Old Brewery, Strichen, denied assaulting Mr Johnson by driving her car and striking him with it on February 3, 2014 at Culduthel Road in Inverness. She faced an alternative charge of dangerous driving.
Sheriff Margaret Neilson found her guilty of careless driving, fined her £300 and endorsed her licence with five penalty points.
Smith said afterwards: “It was not a good relationship. I am glad it is all over now.”
