Speeding driver was suffering from ‘brain fog’

A man who drove at excessive speed, forcing another motorist to take evasive action, was suffering from “brain fog” caused by a mouth infection, a court heard.

Liam Johnson, 32, had already admitted four driving offences but his case was back before Lerwick Sheriff Court today (Wednesday) for sentencing.

The court previously heard how Johnson, of Ollaberry, had been driving without due care and attention on the A970 near Nortenergy on 2nd May.

Despite approaching an oncoming vehicle, the court was told that Johnson drove past two passing places, forcing the other driver onto the verge to avoid crashing.

Procurator fiscal Duncan MacKenzie said at the time that his driving had been “completely devoid of any consideration for other road users”.

He had already been banned from driving and had no insurance or MOT.

Defence agent Tommy Allan asked Sheriff Ian Cruickshank to take into account a social worker’s report which noted his client had made progress since the incident.

While he accepted Johnson’s past convictions “don’t make for good reading”, Mr Allan said the latest community payback order was more than a decade old.

He said the report showed the lockdown “clearly had quite a bad effect” on his client.

However he also noted Johnson had since engaged with the substance misuse recovery service and was making “real progress”.

At the time of the incident Mr Allan said Johnson was suffering from a “severe mouth infection”.

He said one of the side-effects was a “kind of brain fog”, which may explain why he could not recall what had happened.

However, Mr Allan stressed his client was not trying to deny his involvement or minimise the seriousness of the crime.

“Despite Mr Johnson being aware he is facing a real risk of custodial sentence, I would ask your lordship to view community payback as appropriate today,” Mr Allan said.

Sheriff Cruickshank admonished Johnson of three of the four charges but imposed a community payback order for the charge of driving while disqualified.

He subjected Johnson to a 15 month supervision order, ordered him to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work within the next 12 months and banned him from holding a licence for a further 12 months.

The sheriff stressed the sentence was being imposed as an alternative to prison.