A police emergency response driver who caused a crash on a twisting Loch Ness-side road as he tried to overtake four cars was found guilty of careless driving yesterday.
Samuel Leach had been accused of dangerous driving after a tourist was forced to swerve into a rockface to avoid a head-on smash on the A82 Inverness to Fort William road.
However, a sheriff found him guilty of the less serious charge and gave him an absolute discharge – saying he accepted he would not have attempted to pass the cars had he not been responding to an emergency call.
The ruling means Leach will not have a criminal conviction on his record – although police chiefs may still take internal disciplinary action against him.
The sentence was criticised by a leading road safety charity last night.
Margaret Decker of the Scottish Campaign Against Irresponsible Drivers (SCID), said: “The Crown and the police saw it as serious enough to take it to court and yet the sheriff in this instance has not punished him enough.”
Leach, 27, denied he drove dangerously on the A82 between Drumnadrochit and Invermoriston at Altsigh, overtook four cars and caused the car being driven by English tourist Martyn Binch to take evasive action.
Mr Binch and his wife escaped injury in the smash which happened on a blind bend on December 6, 2013.
Leach had offered to admit driving carelessly, saying he failed to anticipate that the driver of the fourth car he was about to overtake would brake heavily, leaving him no room to get back on to his side of the road.
However, the prosecution refused to accept his plea and proceeded against the Inverness-based officer on the more serious charge of dangerous driving, which carries a minimum one-year ban.
If he had lost his licence, he would have lost his job.
At Inverness Sheriff Court yesterday, Leach’s lawyer Callum Anderson yesterday persuaded Sheriff Sutherland to give an absolute discharge because the officer was on an emergency call to check two attack alarms at Glenmoriston Stores.
He added: “It is accepted my client fell below the standards of a careful driver, but not far below which would mean it was dangerous driving.
“The gap between the third and fourth car closed, he did not anticipate this. It was careless driving, not dangerous.”
In his evidence, Leach said he had overtaken two cars and there were a further two cars ahead. He told the court he decided to overtake the third while on the opposite carriageway as there was a gap for him to return to.
He claimed he was forced to overtake the lead car just before the blind bend when it braked sharply and closed the gap.
Inspector Neil Lumsden, 37, who taught emergency response driving techniques, told the court: “In my view, it was unsafe to overtake because of restricted visibility and the bend where there was a zone of invisibility. It is an absolute no-no.
“Officers having their lights and sirens activated does not give them the right to disregard safety. He made an error of judgement. If officers can’t safely stop on their own side of the road, they are travelling in the wrong place and too fast.”
Sheriff David Sutherland told Leach: “I accept you would not have undertaken the overtaking manoeuvre if you hadn’t been responding to an emergency.”
However Leach was criticised by the judge for not deploying his training as an emergency response driver, which could have prevented the accident.
The sheriff added: “It is clear to me you made an error of judgement. Your training should have ensured greater awareness that a driver ahead of you may brake sharply.”
Leach did not comment as he was leaving court and Police Scotland did not respond last night.
However Ms Decker said the sentence sent out the wrong signal.
“This is quite worrying,” she said.
“I know the sheriffs always say they are responding to a call, but all road users have a responsibility to drive safely and when they fail to do that they should feel the full force of the law like everyone else.”