A driver faced a string of charges in court yesterday after a man was knocked down and seriously injured in a city crash at the weekend.
Andrei Sinzieanu, 25, was accused of dangerous driving, drunk driving, driving without a licence, driving with a fake licence, failing to stop at the scene of a crash and failing to report an accident.
His co-accused was charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice after the accident on Friar’s Bridge in Inverness in the early hours of Sunday.
Police yesterday appealed for witnesses following the incident which occurred around 3.30am.
Last night, the casualty – named locally as Steven Fraser, 36 – was still in a serious condition in hospital.
Mr Fraser, who lives at Kildonan near Helmsdale, was thought to be competing in the Snowman Rally event near Inverness the day before the accident.
Neighbours of Mr Fraser, a gamekeeper and father to two young boys, said they were shocked by what had happened and were praying for him to make a full recovery.
A worker at Kildonan Lodge who knows Mr Fraser said he had worked on the nearby Suisgill Estate – a famous site at the centre of the 1868 gold rush – for more than a year.
Local resident Ula Henderson, wife of David who works with Mr Fraser, said: “It’s just sad that this has happened to a young father of two boys. Hopefully he will pull through and hopefully everything will be okay.”
Mrs Henderson added that Mr Fraser had been working on the estate for more than a year and that his main responsibility is deer management.
Another neighbour, Martina Jonak, knows Mr Fraser through her husband, Vacla, who is a maintenance worker on the estate.
Mrs Jonak said: “He is a really nice guy and he has come over here a couple of times for coffee and with his two boys. It’s a shame that this has happened and our sympathies go to his family at this difficult time.”
Sinzieanu and co-accused Dorian Savu, 21, both from Inverness, appeared in private before Sheriff Margaret Neilson at the city’s Sheriff Court yesterday.
It is alleged Sinzieanu drove dangerously, while disqualified, drove while drunk, without insurance, possessing a false licence, failing to stop after an accident, failing to report it and other road traffic offences.
He made no plea, was committed for further examination and remanded in custody.
Savu was charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice. He also made no plea, was committed for further examination and remanded in custody.
Inspector Angus Stewart, Road Policing Unit said: “We would like to thank members of the public for their assistance in reporting the incident swiftly and for providing vital information.
“Inquiries into the collision are continuing and we would urge anyone who was travelling or walking on the road in the early hours of Sunday morning and may have witnessed the collision or who may have any information that could assist officers, is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101.”