An unqualified learner drove across a field towards chasing police after leaving the road at the end of a high speed chase. Katie Reid, who veered at the last minute to avoid striking the police car, was jailed for six months yesterday and banned from driving for three years.
Perth Sheriff Court heard how she raced through roadworks at more than twice the speed limit and drove at over 90 miles per hour with police chasing her. Reid, 33, who had two male passengers in the car, claimed she was racing to a hospital to seek medical treatment for a septic finger when she bolted.
Sheriff William Wood said: “What is difficult for the court is to get away from the appalling nature of this conduct. You were driving in a manner which falls well below what is acceptable, safe and reasonably expected of a careful and safe driver. It was nothing more than an attempt to evade detection by police.”
Reid’s own solicitor told the court her conduct was “appalling” and that she had been “responsible for a terrible example of very bad driving”. Reid, from Perth, admitted driving dangerously and without insurance on July 29 this year. She also admitted failing to give a specimen of breath when she was eventually stopped.
Fiscal depute Elizabeth Hodgson told the court Reid was seen driving the VW Golf along the A90 at almost three times the speed limit at 9 pm. She undertook an unmarked police car at speed. Ms Hodgson said there were roadworks and the speed limit had been restricted to 30 mph in places, but Reid continued to drive at upwards of 80 mph.
Police began to follow the vehicle with sirens and lights activated, but Reid ignored them and rove through a red light and almost collided with other vehicles. Reid’s car got stuck in a contraflow behind a heavy goods vehicle, so she took a short cut along the Invergowrie slip road, before returning to the A90 and accelerating to 90mph.
As she approached Longforgan, Reid moved into the left hand lane and began to slow, as if to give the impression she would bring the chase to an end. One of the police officers got out of the pursuit vehicle to speak to her, but Reid quickly reversed to avoid him, before heading off at speed again.
The chase continued into Orchard Way, where Reid’s car was seen taking a sharp right-hand bend before travelling down the wrong side of Kingswell Road.
“The pursuit led into a dead end,” the fiscal depute said. “The accused car entered a field through an open gate.
“She accelerated harshly back towards the patrol car, before a sudden veer away from the police vehicle. She travelled to the west side of the field before coming to a stop.”
The court was told that Reid claimed to have been assaulted two days earlier and her hand got injured when it struck a fence. She claimed to have been intending to go to hospital as the finger was becoming infected and painful.
In August, Reid was fined £450 and banned from driving for a year after she admitted driving with cocaine in her system in Perth on 26 February 2023.
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