Black Watch Soldier Avoids Jail After Drunk High Speed Race Across Tay
A Black Watch lance corporal who drunkenly sped at 120mph the wrong way across one of Scotland's longest road bridges was today banned from the road.
A Black Watch lance corporal who drunkenly sped at 120mph the wrong way across one of Scotland's longest road bridges was today banned from the road.
Daniel McLean raced across the wrong side of the Tay Road Bridge dual carriageway before losing control and careering across the middle of a roundabout at the other end of the 1.4 mile bridge as he narrowly avoided a smash with another vehicle.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard McLean, who has now been demoted, averaged 93mph - with a female passenger he had gone into Dundee to pick up seeing the speedo of his Honda Civic Type S hit 120mph during the terrifying journey.
After he smashed through a roundabout at the Fife end of the bridge - crossing the 1.4 metre span in just 53 seconds - police discovered he was two and a half times the booze limit.
McLean had faced a possible jail sentence when he appeared in court today - but was instead handed a road ban, a fine and community service.
McLean's lawyer said he had taken the wrong slip road on to the bridge and had decided to go as fast as possible to get across.
Fiscal depute John Adams said McLean had managed to make the journey from Dundee to Fife in just 54 seconds.
He said: "He missed the slip road on to the Tay Road Bridge and continued driving westwards before performing a U-turn and joining the north bound carriageway - effectively the wrong side of the bridge.
"Whilst there he realised that and as such made an attempt to cross the bridge as quickly as possible.
"The witness in his car saw the speedo, which indicated he was travelling at 120mph.
"At the end of the bridge he was travelling too fast to negotiate the roundabout and as such mounted it whilst braking.
"At that stage he narrowly avoided a collision with an oncoming car.
"He continued to travel across the diameter of the roundabout until the car came to a rest.
"Police attended the scene and he was breathalysed which gave a reading of 54 microgrammes of alcohol. The limit is 22.
"Cameras caught the incident on the bridge - it took him 54 seconds to complete the 1.4 miles of the bridge, an average of 93mph."
McLean, 24, of Kirkbank, Dumfries, pleaded guilty on summary complaint to charges of drink driving and dangerous driving committed on the A92 Tay Road Bridge on June 21 this year.
Ian Houston, defending, said: "He is in the Army, 3 SCOTS, the Black Watch, and is a lance corporal.
"However, he will be demoted to private as a result of this."
Sheriff George Way imposed a community payback order with 80 hours' unpaid work, a £300 fine and a two-year driving ban.
He said: "This is a serious matter.
"He thought if he put the hammer down he'd get across before a ten tonne truck came along.
"This is dangerous driving coupled with drink driving."