A Buckie man who tried to evade the police after being spotted driving dangerously has been banned from the roads for 21 months.
Craig Baillie admitted to charges of dangerous driving, failing to stop at the command of the police and driving without insurance at Elgin Sheriff Court yesterday.
The court heard that Baillie was spotted driving poorly by officers in a police mobile patrol unit on East Road, Elgin, shortly after midnight on Wednesday, November 6, 2013.
Police began following the car and witnessed Baillie, 25, perform a u-turn and mount the kerb and pavement.
Officers activated their blue lights but the vehicle did not stop and Baillie was pursued down Newmill Road before eventually stopping on Calcots Road.
Baillie, of 14 Brodie Avenue, who worked at the Walkers shortbread factory at the time, then got out his car and ran away from the scene.
Officers ran checks on the car and found it was owned and insured by another person.
Baillie was traced four days later and charged.
Defence agent Brent Lockie told Sheriff Ian Anderson: “What you can see from the report on the background circumstances is that these actions were somewhat ill-considered.
“At least my lord will see Mr Baillie describes himself as being somewhat of an idiot.”
Sheriff Anderson said it was “quite significant” that Baillie had stayed out of trouble for some time.
He added: “As an alternative to custody, I do propose to impose a community payback order.”
Baillie was given 180 hours of unpaid work to be completed within 6 months and banned from driving for 21 months.