A Kirkwall man who drove while disqualified and without insurance has escaped a prison sentence.
Instead, Owen Anderson was ordered to carry out 65 hours unpaid community work, at Wick Sheriff Court yesterday. The unemployed fisherman was also banned from driving for a year when he appeared from custody and pleaded guilty.
The court heard that police received a tip-off on Friday that the 21-year-old had been seen driving the vehicle at the Gills Bay ferry terminal. He had picked up the car which had been shipped from St Margaret’s Hope on the Pentalina.
However, when officers caught up with the vehicle, Anderson’s girlfriend was at the wheel. But when questioned, the accused admitted he had been driving earlier.
Sheriff Andrew Berry told Anderson, of Watson Drive, St Ola, Kirkwall, that, given his record for road traffic offences, he had considered a custodial sentence.
The sheriff warned Anderson that he took a serious view of motorists who drive while disqualified and that he would likely find himself in prison if he repeated the offence.
Sheriff Berry also commented that it was ‘conceivable’ Anderson’s girlfriend could face a charge of causing the accused to drive without insurance.