Court / Court round-up 25 September

A MAN who drove while significantly over the alcohol limit in Lerwick before trying to flee from police has been fined £1,500 and banned from the road.

Ryan Nisbet, of the town’s Twageos Road, appeared at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday to admit driving with at least 254 milligrams of alcohol in 100ml of blood on 2 February. The limit is 50 milligrams.

The 36-year-old also admitted driving and running away from police officers and failing to stop for them, with the intent to pervert the course of justice.

Nisbet also admitted a third charge of failing to provide information about the identity of the driver.

Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said there had been concern about the manner of Nisbet’s driving in the early hours of the morning. The police followed him, with the man’s pick-up coming to a stop on Gressy Loan.

Mackenzie said Nisbet then took off in his vehicle again, despite the police having their lights on, before stopping at the Knab graveyard carpark. The court heard that Nisbet ran away, climbing over the wall of the graveyard.

Advertisement7 of 10

Mackenzie said the police attended at Nisbet’s house, and found him lying face down on a bedroom floor “pretending he was asleep or unconscious”.

The court heard that he eventually responded to the police and was taken to the hospital as a precaution.

Mackenzie said the alcohol reading was taken at around 6.25am – roughly three hours after the driving incident.

Defence agent Tommy Allan said the fisherman had spent some time not drinking, and on the night before had started on non-alcohol beer but progressed onto wine and then vodka.

The solicitor said his client had “no real recollection” of the incident.

Allan also explained that Nisbet losing his licence would have a big impact in terms of his employment as a fisherman, relating to access to the boat and also delivering catch.

But the defence agent said Nisbet “appreciates it is all his own fault”.

Sheriff Ian Cruickshank noted that the alcohol reading was taken some hours after the initial driving incident, saying that Nisbet would have been more than five times the limit at the time.

He fined Nisbet a total of £1,500 and disqualified him for 28 months. The driving ban can be reduced by one quarter if a drink-driving rehabilitation course is completed.

A MAN from Shetland has been remanded in custody after appearing at Lerwick Sheriff Court on charges of assault to injury, assault and behaving in a threatening or abusive manner.

Kyle Swannie, 29, appeared in private from custody on Thursday. He made no plea and was committed for further examination.

A MAN from Tresta has been given an interim disqualification after twice getting behind the wheel after drinking in the space of a few days.

Advertisement8 of 10

James Fraser, 62, appeared at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday to admit driving over the alcohol limit on 3 September and 6 September – once on the road between the Weisdale shop and his home, and again between the Tumblin junction and Tresta.

The first offence saw Fraser five times over the limit, with the second around six.

Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said the first incident happened at around 10.30am in the morning, with a concerned member of the public phoning the police.

Officers attended at his home, where he failed a screening test, was arrested and taken to Lerwick Police Station.

Mackenzie said Fraser was released on an undertaking to appear at Lerwick Sheriff Court on 24 September.

But on 6 September he was stopped by police who were undertaking speed checks in the area, and was found to be over the limit again.

Advertisement9 of 10

The case was adjourned for reports until 22 October, when Fraser’s defence will give mitigation.

Sheriff Ian Cruickshank gave Fraser an interim disqualification as well as a special bail condition prohibiting him from disposing of his vehicle.

A WOMAN has been fined £800 and disqualified for 12 months after admitting getting behind the wheel while over drug-driving limits.

Defence agent Tommy Allan told Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday that Simone Anderson, from Whalsay, was driving on Sunday 20 April after a particularly “big weekend”.

The 19-year-old admitted driving on the Esplanade in Lerwick on 20 April with 18 microgrammes of cocaine per litre of blood, with the limit ten microgrammes.

She also had a reading in excess of 800 microgrammes of benzoylecgonine – the limit being 50. This is a metabolite produced in the body after cocaine use which can remain in people’s systems longer than the drug itself.

Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said Anderson was stopped by police at around 8.50am, with a drugs wipe being used by officers.

Allan said at the time his client was going through a “tricky patch” but since the offence there has been a “fairly big change”.