Glasgow teen crashed into cabbie leaving him with bleed to the brain

Mason McCallum, 19, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving at Glasgow Sheriff Court

Author: Alice FaulknerPublished 31st May 2023
Last updated 31st May 2023

A teenager, who crashed into a cabbie causing a bleed to his brain, has pleaded guilty to serious injury by dangerous driving.

Mason McCallum, 19, ploughed head on with Anthony Martyn's taxi in Glasgow city centre on November 1 2021.

McCallum, from Mosspark, had drugs in his system and was speeding away from police moments before the crash.

The 64-year-old victim was left with a catalogue of injuries including a broken knee cap and ribs.

McCallum pleaded guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court today and also admitted driving with a provisional licence and without insurance.

The court heard that McCallum had been warned by police about his manner of driving at a red light, before going on to drive slowly down one-way streets.

Officers followed him as he went faster, which led McCallum to crash into barriers and fencing from construction work on Bothwell Street.

He was later observed at a slip road from the city centre going in the wrong direction where he collided head on with a black cab taxi driven by Anthony Martyn in the correct direction on the off-slip.

McCallum exited the Ranger Rover he was driving while officers attended to Anthony who was in a state of unconsciousness.

He was noted by medics to have chest, head and leg injuries and was taken to hospital.

McCallum told officers: "I know I've f***ed up, it was all my fault."

He was later tested and found to have 444 micrograms of the drug, benzoylecgonine, in his body when the legal limit is 50 micrograms - benzoylecgonine is the main chemical compound in cocaine.

Anthony suffered a fractured thigh bone, a broken kneecap, a chest wound, several broken ribs and sternum as well as a bleed to the brain.

His current medical state will be said at next month's sentencing.

Sheriff Ian Fleming granted McCallum bail meantime and disqualified him from driving in the interim.

He said: "This is a serious matter, don't construe that I have continued bail that you will avoid custody - nothing is ruled in or out."

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