Driving ban for worker who failed to comply with police after speeding on A9 in Caithness
Police who caught up with a 4x4 driver they were following got an unexpected reply when they asked him to tell them who had been at the wheel.
Cheeky James Gray told officers it was their job to establish the identity of the driver.
However, Gray (32) came clean at Wick Sheriff Court and admitted having failed to co-operate with the police when required to do so under the Road Traffic Act of 1988.
Sheriff Neil Wilson was told that Gray’s high-performance vehicle came to the attention of police as it was travelling at high speed and crossing the central white line on the A9 near Spittal on August 8, last year.
Fiscal depute Grant McLennan said that the officers followed Gray but struggled to keep up with him. They eventually arrived at the entrance to Badbea where the accused stopped and he and his female passenger got out of the vehicle.
Police officer Thomas Staples asked Gray to identify the driver of his vehicle but he replied: “You tell me who the driver was?” The accused was charged with failing to comply with the request.

Solicitor Sylvia Maclennan said that Gray’s attitude was “entirely inappropriate” and he was ashamed. He had been returning south after working in Caithness.
She added: “He should simply have answered the officer’s question, faced the consequences and gone on his way.”
Sheriff Wilson told Gray, of Smithends, Cumbernauld: “You showed a blatant disregard for the law” before fining him £500 and banning him from driving for four months.