Ban and work order for high-speed Wick driver who smashed into telegraph poles

A high-speed driver who left the road and struck two telegraph poles after losing control of his car has been banned for a year.

Donald Wilkie (34) will then have to sit and pass another driving test. He was also ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid community work under supervision when he appeared for sentence at Wick Sheriff Court on Monday.

He previously admitted charges of dangerous driving and resisting arrest, and a record.

The court heard that Wilkie, of Murchison Street, Wick, had overtaken a car shortly before the accident on the Wick-Castletown road on April 24.

The occupants of the car estimated that he was travelling at a speed "well in excess" of the 60 mph limit.

Fiscal David Barclay made the point that there was no problem about where Wilkie had decided to execute his overtaking manoeuvre.

He continued: "The difficulty lay in the fact that there is a right-hand bend at the end of the straight where there are chevrons and various hazard signs. Wilkie failed to negotiate the bend and struck two telegraph poles, damaging them, before coming to a halt."

Wilkie tried to avoid being handcuffed by police officers who attended the scene and lashed out with his legs.

Solicitor Fiona MacDonald appealed to Sheriff Andrew Berry to give Wilkie a chance to address difficulties in his life that had triggered a pattern of offending recently.

Sheriff Berry told the accused that he had behaved 'foolishly' and went on: "It is clear that in recent times you have gone off the rails. Hopefully, things are now back on the rails, but it is hugely important that there is no further offending."

The sheriff warned Wilkie that it would be "foolish in the extreme" if he was to drive while disqualified.