A POLICE officer yesterday admitted driving dangerously by speeding through a red light and crashing into a patrol van heading to a separate emergency.
But 33-year-old Mark Williamson escaped punishment after the sheriff heard he had been driving his police vehicle to help another officer being threatened with a knife.
Williamson, a constable who has 11 years of police service, was breathalysed by colleagues before being charged with driving the BMW dangerously in the Saturday night incident.
The officer, whose address was given as Inverness Police Station, pleaded guilty to committing the offence on November 10 last year in Academy Street, Inverness.
But after defence lawyer David McKie called for leniency, Sheriff Andrew Miller said he was not going to impose punishment. He told the court he accepted the officer would not have driven in such a dangerous manner if he had not been responding to a call from a colleague in distress.
The sheriff accepted the argument for special reasons not to disqualify or impose penalty points, and gave Williamson an absolute discharge, meaning he will have no recorded conviction.
Williamson could still face internal disciplinary action by the police.
The court heard he had been alerted to go to Gunsmith’s bar in the city’s Union Street after a British Transport Police officer called for assistance.
It later emerged this officer had been confronted by a man brandishing a knife.
As Williamson drove the BMW through the streets of Inverness at speeds well in excess of the 30mph limit, he ran at least one red light before approaching the lights controlling the Academy Street and Queensgate junction.
He sped through the red light and crashed into a police van coming out of Queensgate on a green light, also with its blue lights flashing and siren blaring.
Williamson crashed into the van and was injured in the collision. No one else was hurt.
Mr McKie said: “More police were called to deal with the collision and my client was then breathalysed in front of Inverness’s Saturday night crowd.
“He was taken to the police station, cautioned and charged. He made a full and frank confession that he had driven dangerously.
“But he would not have driven in this way if he had not been responding to an emergency call. He wanted to get there as quickly as possible because his colleague could have been in dire circumstances.
“Obviously he wanted to get there as safely as possible and it is remarkable that we do not see more of these cases involving members of the emergency services.
“He did everything in his power to alert other road-users to what he was doing but he accepts his standard of driving fell below the standards required.
“There is already penalty here because he will face higher insurance premiums and internal disciplinary proceedings.”
The court heard Williamson had two fixed-penalty speeding tickets on his licence but they had been incurred while he was off duty.
Mr McKie produced a testimonial letter from a senior officer saying he had an exemplary record.
Sheriff Miller said: “Normally an offence of this kind carries an obligatory disqualification unless there are special reasons not to.
“I accept you would not have driven in this manner had you not been responding to that emergency call.”