Young speeding driver wrote letter of apology to court

A young man who drove at 90mph just three weeks after passing his test received a “shock to the system” when he realised what he had done.

Shaun Llewellyn, 17, of North Road in Lerwick, was so concerned by his driving that he wrote a letter to the fiscal’s office apologising for his actions.

At Lerwick Sheriff Court today Llewellyn admitted speeding in a 60mph area at Black Hill in Lerwick on 1st March.

But procurator fiscal Duncan MacKenzie said Llewellyn had written a contrite letter to him within 24 hours of the offence.

“He fully recognises the stupidity of his actions and apologises,” he said.

“He is an over-enthusiastic new driver who got a bit carried away. I think he got a significant shock to the system. There’s no doubt he understands the foolishness of what he did.”

Defence agent Tommy Allan said Llewellyn deserved credit for sending the letter, which he had done without any prompting.

He added the apprentice joiner had only passed his test three weeks before he was stopped. He had co-operated with police.

“He understands the seriousness of this and is unlikely to do it again.”

Sheriff Philip Mann told Llewellyn: “I’m not going to directly disqualify you today because I’m satisfied from what has been said that the penny’s dropped.”

He ordered him to pay a £300 fine and placed four penalty points on his licence.  

“If you put a foot wrong within the next two years your licence will be revoked and you’ll have to start back from scratch as a learner driver again.”