Man fled crash scene

A SHETLAND engineer who fled from a crash scene to avoid being breathalysed was banned for just four months at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday.

Neil Ward, of 14 Quoys Road, admitted failing to stop and report an accident after his works van slid on ice and struck a parked car on Lerwick’s St Olaf Street on 24 January last year.

The court heard the 38 year old had been drinking at a birthday celebration that day and was seen being served no less than seven pints of beer.

He then went and carried out a “homer” before heading home with a workmate of 20 years standing, when he crashed the car and abandoned it in the middle of the road.

The court accepted Ward’s not guilty plea for driving while under the influence of drink or drugs, but procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said it was clear he had been trying to escape being breathalysed.

“Given his previous conviction, he knew exactly what he was doing and this was a deliberate fleeing from the scene to avoid the authorities,” the fiscal said.

Defence agent Tommy Allan accepted his client abandoned his van to avoid the law, but insisted Ward had not drunk all the beer that he had been served.

“He had some doubt as to whether he would pass a breathalyser, but his view with the benefit of hindsight is that he would have been OK,” he said.

Allan added that he was worried about the consequences of using a works van to carry out a personal job without his employer’s authority.

He also feared losing his licence as that would affect his job, and thus his ability to keep up maintenance payments for his three year old son.

But Sheriff Philip Mann said that it was obvious Ward had fled the scene to avoid prosecution. He banned him for four months and fined him £500.