A Shetland drink-driver told rescuers no one else was in his crashed car as his passenger friend lay severely injured in the wreckage.
James Leaper came off the road on Unst after going to a Uyeasound Up Helly Aa fire festival with his now-permanently impaired pal on February 12 last year.
The 29-year-old repeatedly kicked and struck the man as he exited the stricken vehicle to force him back inside, before dragging and placing him into the front seat.
Leaper even told a confused ambulance crew they’d turned up to the wrong incident and fled the scene in a car he wasn’t permitted to use.
At Lerwick Sheriff Court, Leaper admitted driving a car while unfit through drink or drugs and pled guilty to other charges including culpable and reckless behaviour involving the use of a vehicle with excessively worn brake pads and a brake disc and rear tyres that were severely under inflated.
The passenger felt a ‘massive jolt’ and a ‘flash’ through his body
Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie told the court that Leaper and his drinking buddy had first attended a pub in Baltasound.
Leaper drove to the local hall with his friend in the passenger seat even though a bus was available to take people to the event in the village of Uyeasound.
After the event had finished, during the early hours of the morning, the pair were in the car with Leaper driving when it left the road.
The passenger felt a “massive jolt” and a “flash” through his body, the prosecutor added.
Mr Mackenzie said when the passenger tried to get out of the car he “buckled” and Leaper tried to get him back in the vehicle.
Although other people stopped at the scene, the emergency services were alerted by someone living nearby.
They called for an ambulance after attending the scene and witnessing the passenger who needed urgent medical care.
The court heard that when an ambulance arrived, Leaper claimed no one else had been in the car and it was not the crash they had been called to.
Mackenzie said the ambulance crew attended the house of the person who had called them – to clarify – before returning to the crash scene.
Offender was originally released without charge
A doctor and nurse on the island also attended.
However, Leaper continued to lie, denying anyone was left in the vehicle.
When the doctor eventually assessed the passenger, he was concerned the patient may have had a spinal injury which could be potentially life-changing.
The Sumburgh-based coastguard helicopter and firefighters with door-cutting equipment were summoned.
At this point, Leaper entered another person’s car, which was at the scene, and drove away without their consent.
The police were also called out around 3am, but as they were coming from Lerwick, they didn’t arrive until shortly after 6am.
Police officers entered Leaper’s property with the help of firefighters.
He failed a screening test and was taken to Lerwick for further assessment, arriving around 10.30am.
Afterward, Leaper was taken to the police station where a formal breath test only took place around midday.
A low reading by that time meant he was released without charge.
Leaper told his then-paralysed friend he was a ‘drama queen’
Officers later visited the garage in Lerwick where Leaper’s car was stored.
After they learned that all four brake pads and a disc were worn and tyres were under-inflated, Leaper was rearrested and questioned.
During interviews, Mr Mackenzie said Leaper had been calling his passenger friend a “drama queen” for his reaction to the crash.
However, a medical scan revealed the friend had suffered a broken spine.
He also had a loss of sensation and mobility in his legs and was taken to Aberdeen for an emergency operation.
Mackenzie added it was said at that point that the man would be a wheelchair user for the rest of his life, having been “effectively paralysed from the waist down”.
But, the man has since made a “remarkable recovery”, the court heard.
He can move with a walking stick but can no longer be employed as a groundworker.
Culpable and reckless conduct of ‘some enormity’
Defence agent Tommy Allan said his client was “ashamed” of his “reckless behaviour”, adding Leaper was “devastated” by his friend’s ordeal.
He said the friend had stayed with Leaper after being released from hospital.
A letter from the passenger was also shown to the sheriff which showed support for Leaper.
Mr Allan said it was “incredibly fortunate” the passenger had recovered in the way he had.
He noted in police interviews that Leaper said he would have done things differently on the night, including calling an ambulance.
Sheriff Ian Cruickshank described the offences as serious, featuring culpable and reckless conduct of “some enormity”.
The sheriff accepted that Leaper had shown a reasonable degree of remorse but said there was no other option than to impose a custodial sentence.
He jailed Leaper, of Haroldswick, Unst, for 26 months and banned him from driving for more than five years.
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