Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Hit and run Moray driver banned from driving for three years after crashing car whilst drunk

Shaun Smith pictured outside of Elgin Sheriff Court in Moray.
Shaun Smith pictured outside of Elgin Sheriff Court in Moray.

A Forres mechanic has been banned from driving for three years after causing a crash while drunk then fleeing the scene.

Shaun Smith, 28, sparked a police search after he went missing shortly after the collision in the early hours of September 23.

He was last seen in the Spynie Church area at 3am and was later arrested in connection with the crash on the B9013 Burghead to Newton Road at Alves.

The other driver had to be cut out of his car and taken to Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin.

Smith had been drinking at a pub in Forres when he was asked by an upset friend to meet up.

At Elgin Sheriff Court yesterday, depute fiscal Rowena Carlton described Smith as “too intoxicated” to safely drive a vehicle at the time.

She said: “The accused failed to stop at a junction while driving from Longhillock and entered the B9013 at speed.

“He collided with another vehicle which was being driven on the other side of the road and forced it off road and into the trees.

“There was extensive damage to both cars, and the accused got out his car, saw the other driver was not moving and made the decision to leave the scene and ran into the direction of Forres without leaving any details.”


>> Keep up to date with the latest news with The P&J newsletter


The other driver was taken to hospital with minor injuries and bruising.

The court heard from defence solicitor Grant Dalglish who claimed that his client had simply “panicked” and run away from the incident without thinking properly.

He said: “My client wasn’t thinking straight and had no thoughts of getting away but his memory is very blurry.

“When he calmed down he handed himself into police.”

Mr Dalglish asked Sheriff Olga Pasportnikov to stop just short of a custodial sentence as Smith was a father of three young kids and his employment as a mechanic would be lost if he went to jail.

Smith, of Romach Road, pled guilty to driving while under the influence, careless driving, failing to stop and give his name after an accident and leaving the scene of the crime.

Sheriff Pasportnikov disqualified him from driving for three years, gave him 300 hours of unpaid work and a six month restriction of liberty order.