A 90-year-old who crashed his car into a wall after falling asleep at the wheel has been left in legal limbo – as a court struggles to find a doctor willing to rule on his fitness to drive.
Ernest Roberts admitted careless driving when he appeared at Elgin Sheriff Court three months ago.
But he has now been told he will have to wait until at least the end of January to find out if he will be allowed to keep his licence.
The nonagenarian’s ordeal started when he crashed on the B9015 while travelling between Rothes and Inchberry.
He first appeared in court to answer the charges against him in September.
He has returned to court every month since in the hope of having his fate decided.
But yesterday, as he appeared in the dock for the fourth time, his lawyer said finding a GP willing to assess his fitness to drive had been like “hitting his head against a brick wall”.
Solicitor Stephen Carty said: “His GP practice has refused to provide such a report, and I have not received any response whatsoever from Dr Gray’s Hospital.
“It’s a very frustrating situation, the matter has been hanging over Mr Roberts for a considerable period of time.
“This appears to be a case of hitting heads off brick walls, in trying to attain a report to see if medical assessments can be supplied advising whether my client is fit to keep driving.
Roberts, of 143 Morriston Road, Elgin, insists he should not be banned from the road but has opted not to drive until he is passed medically fit to do so.
Sheriff Olga Pasportnikov suggested in court yesterday that it appeared doctors were unwilling to make a decision on his case.
She agreed that without any information on whether the pensioner was fit to drive it was impossible to sentence him.
She suggested the court “make some sort of order” that an assessment of Roberts’s fitness to drive be carried out.
Sheriff Pasportnikov added: “Until I get some information that suggests he may not be fit to drive for any reason other than age, I’m not able to make a decision.”
The sheriff said she would have anticipated that if medical staff had any clear aversion to Roberts continuing to drive, they would have made that known to the court.
Sentence was deferred again until Thursday, January 28 so the court can obtain medical reports.
Mr Carty said he contacted Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin last month, asking for the help of a trained professional to carry out assessments on his client.
Yesterday a spokesman for NHS Grampian clarified that, as GPs operate as independent contractors outwith the bounds of the health body, it was the responsibility of the pensioner’s personal practice to provide the reports.