Court / ‘Outrageous’ high-speed chase on wet roads leads to driving ban

A TEENAGER who led police on an “outrageous” high speed chase despite wet roads and high winds has been banned from driving.

Blake Isbister, 19, admitted at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday to driving dangerously and at grossly excessive speeds from Easter Quarff to the south Sandwick junction on 20 December last year.

Isbister’s speed was so excessive that he continued to pull away from police even when they were travelling at 100 miles per hour.

Sheriff Philip Mann called his driving “outrageous” – and said it was only through good fortune that neither he nor anyone else was injured “or worse”.

Isbister, from Cunningsburgh, was seen by police driving at the speed limit at just before midnight.

However, as he exited Quarff, Isbister “accelerated rapidly and harshly” – despite the weather being described as “inclement”, with standing water on the road and high winds.

Police followed but could not keep up with Isbister, who was said to never dip below 70mph.

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And police said that even when they were travelling at speeds of around 100mph they were still losing ground on the teenager.

Such was his speed that at one point he was around half-a-mile away from police and continuing to increase the gap.

They finally caught up with him after the south junction into Sandwick, once Isbister had come to a stop.

Defence agent Tommy Allan said Isbister was a fish farm worker and that losing his licence would be a “complete reset” for the teenager.

He added that it was “fair to say that the car was way too powerful for him”, and that it could maintain high speeds “quite easily”.

Isbister had received some “anxious messages” and was eager to return home, he told the court.

But he admitted that Isbister had driven past his home to get to Sandwick, and said that he had said his “head was all over the place”.

Such was the gap between him and the police, and with police only putting sirens on when the gap was too big, that he did not know they were in pursuit of him, Allan said.

Isbister’s employers were happy to keep him on so long as his ban was not too excessive, Allan told the court, adding his “oil skins are not on a shoogly peg”.

Sheriff Mann described Isbister’s driving as “outrageous”, and said it could easily have resulted in serious injury or death for himself or someone who came across him.

“You’re just fortunate that nothing untoward happened and you emerged unscathed,” he added.

The sheriff said he had considered imposing a lengthy ban, but added he did not want to see Isbister lose his job.

He banned Isbister for driving for one year, and fined him £900.