Court / Careless overtaking costs fisherman his licence and £2,000
A FISHERMAN from Scalloway was unsuccessful in making the case for “exceptional hardship” in a careless driving case when he appeared at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday.
Sam Young, from the village’s Chapel Lane, had previously pleaded guilty to careless driving when he overtook a queue of seven vehicles on the Fladdabister straight in the face of an oncoming cyclist on 29 April last year.
Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said Young had to brake heavily and move partially over the centre line to avoid collision with the cyclists.
Other motorists made room for him to move into, but he did not take it and instead continued overtaking.
Faced with losing his licence for six months as a consequence of “totting up” penalty points, the 34-year-old made the case that his licence was essential for his job as a fisherman.
Representing himself, he said by employing an exclusively foreign crew he was the only one on board with a UK licence, and he needed to be able to drive when in port to organise supplies and deal with agents.
However, the fiscal was not convinced by Young’s argument and suggested that arrangements could be made by other shareholders of the vessel, as well as agents.
He added that disqualification by its nature was intended to have an element of hardship.
He said Young tried to avoid an inevitable inconvenience, but this could hardly be described as an “exceptional hardship”.
Sheriff Ian Cruickshank agreed and added that the careless driving charge Young had been pleaded guilty to was at the higher end of offending.
He banned Young from driving for four months and fined him £2,000 plus £75 victim surcharge.
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