A serial drink-driver has been banned from the road after he smashed into a Range Rover with a toddler inside before leaving the scene of the accident.
Steven Small, from Torry, callously walked away from the wreckage – leaving behind a half-drunk bottle of vodka in the footwell.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told the crash happened on September 15 2022 on Riverside Drive.
Fiscal depute Brian Young told the court that at around 3.05pm a couple were within their parked Range Rover with their two-year-old granddaughter in the backseat.
At the same time, Small, 37, was approaching in his white Mercedes van and, as the Range Rover neared, he leaned down towards the passenger footwell, causing the van to veer into the other vehicle’s path.
Driver fled the scene
It collided with the couple’s car on its front-nearside.
The woman was propelled forward, causing her head to strike the windscreen.
Small got out of his van and asked the couple if their grandchild was okay before walking away towards Holburn Street.
A passerby, who had witnessed the accident, shouted at Small to come back, but she was ignored.
Vodka bottle found
It was then that she looked inside the open driver’s door of Small’s vehicle and saw a half-empty bottle of vodka lying in the footwell.
The couple were taken by ambulance to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, where the woman was found to have suffered a minor bleed on her brain and was required to spend the night in hospital.
The man had bruising to his chest.
The Range Rover was written off at a value of £70,000.
Small was traced by police and asked whether he drove a white Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van, to which he replied: “I don’t know.”
In the dock, Small pleaded guilty to one count of driving without due care or attention and a second charge of leaving the scene of an accident.
He admitted an additional charge of failing to provide the correct information to police following an accident.
‘Real anxiety and guilt’
Defence solicitor John McLeod told the court that his client – who has a number of previous convictions for drink-driving, including driving while under the influence with a child in the car – had now “accepted responsibility for this”.
“He feels real anxiety and guilt over what happened,” the solicitor said.
“Mr Small has described a problem with alcohol and that he has had this problem over a number of years.
“He acknowledges that his behaviour has been unacceptable here and he hopes the court will be able to impose an alternative to a custodial sentence on this occasion.”
Sheriff William Summers told Small: “You are fortunate indeed you are not facing a more serious charge and the issue I’m grappling with is whether there’s an alternative to a custodial sentence – I’m satisfied that there is.”
Sheriff Summers made Small, of Girdleness Road, subject to a community payback order with supervision for two years and ordered him to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.
He also banned him from driving for five years.
A restriction of liberty order was also put in place, banning Summers from leaving his property for four months.
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