Man caught speeding at 108mph on A9 near Dornoch
A North sub sea equipment designer’s job is in jeopardy after he was convicted of speeding at 108mph on the A9 through Sutherland.
Stewart Bain, Fraser Drive, Wick, was driving a powerful sports car when he was caught in a police speed track at Proncy, near Dornoch, on 23rd December.
He was returning home to Wick at the time.
The 33-year-old, who has a previous speeding conviction dating back to 2002, was banned from the road for four months and fined £600 after admitting the offence at Tain Sheriff Court today.
The disqualification was imposed despite lawyer Richard Freeman informing the court that Bain was likely to lose his job and arguing that his high speed was not a danger to other road users because he was on a straight stretch of road at the time and there was no other traffic around.
Police took off in pursuit of Bain after registering his speed as he passed them around 5.45pm on the day in question.
Stewart MacIver, prosecuting, said: “Bain appears to have pulled into a car park before officers operated any signals for him to stop.”
Bain, a senior designer of sub sea equipment, lives in Wick with his wife and three children, and commutes on a weekly basis to Aberdeen
The court heard he normally used a Corsa for the commute but on this occasion was driving his other vehicle, a high-powered BMW M3 because it was due a service and there was a BMW dealership opposite his office in Aberdeen.
Mr Freeman said: “Mr Bain picked the car up from the garage and was driving it back to Wick. It is a very high performance motor car.
“Shortly before the police saw him, he had overtaken a slow moving vehicle. He wrongly allowed his speed to escalate and he takes full responsibility for that.”
However, the lawyer pointed out that Bain only exceeded the speed limit over a “relatively short distance”. He was also on a long straight stretch and had the road to himself.
“He will not be the first person to come before the court in relation to this stretch of road and he had a clear, extended view,” he said.
And Mr Freeman claimed: “The circumstances were such that there was no potential danger.”
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He asked Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood not to ban his client from the road because of the consequences for him and his family.
Instead he suggested that Bain be fined and given the maximum nine penalty points for the offence.
He said: “Mr Bain has not lost sight of the stupidity of his actions and the consequences. It has had a salutary effect on him and he will definitely not appear before the court again.”
But, passing sentence, Sheriff Fleetwood, who had earlier pointed out that Bain would have been driving in the dark with “at least the prospect of frost,” said it was in the public interest to disqualify him.
