Wick sheriff warns driver towing ‘unsecured’ engine hoist on A99
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Police officers who spotted a makeshift registration plate on the back of a trailer discovered a dangerous load being towed.
Jamie Sutherland had used a piece of cardboard with the registration for the trailer written in marker pen.
When Sutherland (30) was pulled over on the A99 near Wick on September 2, last year, officers discovered he was towing an insecure load, Wick Sheriff Court heard on Tuesday.
Sutherland pleaded guilty and admitted a previous record of offending. He was fined a total of £450 and incurred three penalty points.
The court was told that the load he was towing – an engine hoist and block – was on caster wheels and “not secured in any way”.
Sutherland, an unemployed mechanic, claimed the load had been secured but, unknown to him, the restraints had come loose.
Sheriff Neil Wilson told Sutherland, of Bremner's Walk, Wick, that he regarded the insecure load as the more serious of the two charges.
The sheriff said that insecure loads can kill people and had done so in the past.
