Court / Court round up 6 September 2023

ONE OF Shetland’s top triathletes had a lucky escape with no serious injuries after colliding with a car on Lerwick’s Sound Brae on 16 May this year.

In court on Wednesday, Michael Batty, of the town’s Greenfield Square, pleaded guilty to a charge of careless driving by executing a right hand turn in the face of the oncoming cyclist who was unable to avoid a collision.

Defence solicitor Tommy Allan said his 77-year-old client was “ashamed” of having caused the accident and could not explain why he did not see the cyclist.

Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said the cyclist suffered significant bruising to her legs and cuts to her face but fortunately nothing more serious. The £3,000 bike was a complete write off, however.

Sheriff Ian Cruickshank fined Batty £500 and endorsed his licence with five penalty points.

DRIVING the ‘morning after’ cost a Scalloway man his licence when he was stopped on Lerwick’s Holmsgarth Road early in the morning on 30 July this year.

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In court on Wednesday, Ian Arthur, of Port Arthur, pleaded guilty to having 28 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 22 microgrammes.

Defence solicitor Tommy Allan said his client was on his way to work when stopped by police in a routine check.

Sheriff Ian Cruickshank acknowledged that the 53-year-old’s reading was just over the limit but said he had no alternative but to disqualify him.

Arthur was fined £350 and banned for a year. He can reduce the period of disqualification by three months should he successfully complete the drink drivers’ rehabilitation course.

A LERWICK man who had previously pleaded guilty to two charges of behaving aggressively towards nursing staff at the Gilbert Bain Hospital and obstructing police officers in the execution of their duty in March this year has been put on supervision for a year.

Sentencing Stevie Coutts, aged 40, of the town’s Russell Crescent, Sheriff Ian Cruickshank imposed the period of supervision as part of a community payback order.

The order has been imposed as an alternative to jail, and it will be reviewed after three months.

THE CASE against a 35-year-old man from Newcastle, charged with a serious sexual assault, has been continued without plea until 4 October.

Lewis Allen is alleged to have sexually assaulted a woman in the Trench night club, in Lerwick, on 29 July.

Attending court on Wednesday, Allen was released on bail with the condition not to contact or attempt to contact the complainer.