Rosyth teenager jailed for string of driving offences

Michael Wright didn't have a licence when he was stopped on four different occasions and was told that he had shown a "total disregard" for the general public.

Appearing at Dunfermline Sheriff Court on Wednesday, the 19-year-old, of Syme Place, admitted that on December 20 last year, at Cocklaw Street, Drum Road and Blair Street, all in Kelty, he drove without holding a licence and without insurance.

On the same date in Blair Street, he also attempted to pervert the course of justice by telling police officers that he was somebody else.

On December 29 last year, he drove while disqualified and without insurance on Primrose Lane in Rosyth and he failed to appear at court on March 22 this year.

On March 30, he drove while disqualified and without insurance on March 30.

He breached bail conditions requiring him to remain in a property in Urquhart Crescent between 7pm and 7am on April 18 when he also drove while disqualified on Elgin Street and Grange Road and elsewhere.

On the same date, he drove dangerously and drove at speeds in excess of the 30mph speed limit on Elgin Street, lost control of the vehicle and struck a street sign.

He also drove after consuming alcohol whereby proportion of it in his blood was 139 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, which exceeded the legal limit of 50 microgrammes in 100 millilitres of blood.

Defence solicitor Sarah Meehan said her client accepted that given the severity of the charges and the volume of offence, custody was highly likely.

"They are very serious matters before the court," she said. "He is only 19 and, whilst there is little to mitigate the offences, he asks for his personal circumstances to be taken into account."

She said Wright suffered the loss of his mother at a young age and, at the time of the offences, had been struggling to cope with this.

"His way of trying to deal with it was to try and escape from the family unit by driving a vehicle which, of course, he accepts he should not be doing as he doesn't have a driving licence to do that.

"Having had time on remand to reflect on his behaviour, he realises how utterly stupid his behaviour has been. It has been a sobering experience for him and caused him to mature somewhat and reflect on his behaviour and realise at the age of 19, it is not somewhere he wants to be."

Sheriff Craig McSherry sentenced Wright to a total of 22 months' detention, backdated to April 19, and banned him from driving for 12 months.

He told him: "You have shown an utter disregard for court orders and also a disregard for the general public. There is a reason why people should be driving with insurance and why they should be driving without excess alcohol in their systems and also driving with due care and attention and not recklessly."