Behaviour was "outrageous" sheriff tells careless Halkirk accused

JAMIE Sutherland decided to celebrate Christmas with a spin in his car but ran into trouble.
CCTV footage in Thurso town centre, on Christmas Day, captured him revving his engine to such an extent that the wheels lost traction. Less than a month later he paid Wick a visit and carried out a handbrake turn.
Sutherland seemed to regard it as a bit of a joke when he appeared in the dock at Wick Sheriff Court. But Sheriff Andrew Berry was not amused by his smiling demeanour and requested solicitor Fiona MacDonald to have a word with her client.
The 21-year-old admitted two charges of careless driving and was banned from driving for six months. He will also require to carry out 100 hours unpaid work in the community.
David Barclay, prosecuting, said that Sutherland's second offence, in the late evening on January 17 was in a location "no comptent driver would dream of misbehaving" - Wick's Riverside car park where his erratic performance was witnessed by police.
The fiscal added: "The only positive aspect was that given the time of night, there was no-one else around".
Ms MacDonald said that Sutherland accepted that his conduct had been "stupid". The accused maintained that he was having a problem with his brakes sticking but the solicitor added that the difficulty was a matter for a garage to attend to.
Sheriff Andrew Berry, who described Sutherland's driving as "outrageous", expressed concern that the accused, knowing he was being prosecuted for the initail offence, went out and committed another one.
The sheriff warned Sutherland, of 1 Bishop Court, Church Lane, Halkirk, that to drive while disqualified, invariably attracted a custodial sentence.