A SHERIFF yesterday watched a video of police chasing a stolen
high-performance car on the A9 for 42 miles at speeds of up to 130mph.
Inverness Sheriff Court saw Constable David Bellshaw's skill save his
own and his colleague David Sutherland's lives, as he avoided a car jack
and a spare wheel tossed from the rear of the car in front.
The court was told that Mark Donaldson, 19, of Burnfoot Drive,
Hillington, and Thomas Coutts, 17, of Torbreck Street, Craigton had been
at an all-night rave with an 18-year-old friend, Raymond MacNaughton, of
Linthaugh Road, Pollock, all Glasgow, and decided to steal a car and
head north.
Coutts admitted the theft of the car and Donaldson admitted dangerous
driving, having no insurance, and illegal possession of a cosh. Coutts
pleaded guilty to culpable and reckless conduct by throwing items out of
the car, and MacNaughton admitted theft of an MoT and insurance
certificate, and attempting to pervert the course of justice by giving
police false particulars.
He was fined a total of #250, but sentence was deferred on Donaldson
and Coutts for social background and community service reports.
The court was told that police had measured the Fiesta XR2's speed at
103mph on a 60mph stretch of the A9 at Ruthven Barracks, just outside
Kingussie on December 27 last year, and set off to stop it.
When the officers began the chase just before 9am, they were unaware
that the car had been stolen from Auchterarder the night before.
On the video, taken with a camera mounted on the police car, the court
was able to watch as Donaldson swerved about the road to stop the police
car from overtaking. He passed cars three abreast, drove along the wrong
side of the road on blind bends, and passed a school crossing at 98mph.
At one stage, the pursuing officers had to accelerate to 130mph in a
60mph zone to catch up, then Coutts was seen hammering at the tailgate
as the car sped along at almost 100mph.
The tailgate flew up and MacNaughton was seen tossing any item he
could find into the path of the police vehicle from the open rear door.
The pursuit, which took just 25 minutes, ended as Donaldson tried to
slow the Fiesta as it approached the Kessock Bridge roundabout at
Inverness, and the gearbox blew up allowing police, who had set up road
blocks, to arrest the trio as they tried to escape.
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