Court / Man banned from driving for six months

DRIVING without a valid licence or insurance has led to man from Lerwick being disqualified from holding a licence under the totting up procedure.

Magnus Thomson, of Sletts Road, was banned for six months after appearing at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Tuesday.

The 37-year-old previously admitted driving with no valid licence or insurance in Lerwick on 30 May.

Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said he was stopped by police at around 6pm, with a routine check revealing that a woman was insured on the car.

When he handed over his licence police checks showed it had expired.

Defence agent Tommy Allan said his client had taken his mother’s car to visit his father on the spur of the moment out of concern.

“He simply took a chance and that was a stupid thing to do,” he said.

Sheriff Ian Cruickshank gave Thomson fines totalling £500 in addition to six penalty points.

This meant that under the totting up procedure he was disqualified due to the number of points he already had.

The procedure kicks in when someone reaches 12 or more points.

Thomson also previously admitted possessing heroin at his home address on 10 June.

Mackenzie said it was a trace amount of drugs found by police on a set of scales as they undertook a search based on intelligence.

Allan said it was his client’s position that the scales belonged to someone else, but that he took responsibility for the trace amount of powder on them.

The defence agent said the offence, which saw Thomson receive a £300 fine, was a “brief relapse”.