Elgin driver avoids jail over chaotic incident in friend’s car
A “self-destructive” driver hit three parked vehicles with a friend’s car, threatened to break two police officers’ jaws and refused a breath test.
Robert Stewart, of Gordon Street, appeared at Elgin Sheriff Court on Thursday for sentencing over the chaotic series of events in the town last August.
The Elgin 32-year-old previously pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving without insurance and failing to provide breath samples at Elgin police station.
He also admitted threatening, shouting and swearing at two police officers while behaving in an “aggressive manner”.
As a “direct alternative to custody”, Sheriff Eric Brown ordered Stewart to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and banned him from driving for a year.
The court heard that the incident took place over the course of several hours on Friday, August 2, 2024.
At around 4.30pm, the 32-year-old was seen picking up a car from the house of a “loose associate”.
Fiscal depute Karen Poke said Stewart was not insured to drive the car which, a short time later, “was seen causing damage in various areas of Elgin”.
Two hours after Stewart took the car, at 6.30pm, the court heard that an Institution Road resident heard a car “skidding and screeching” outside her property.
Seeing the vehicle in her driveway, the “witness described the vehicle as being driven at excessive speed” as it left the scene.
The car was next spotted at 6.45pm, by a video doorbell on the front door of a property on Hazel Court Road.
Checking the footage the next day, Ms Poke said, a witness “noticed her vehicle had been reversed into by the accused’s vehicle”.
The court heard that the resident’s car suffered £250 worth of damage to its bumper and paintwork.
At 7.20pm, Stewart was seen near the Budgen’s petrol station by a number of witnesses.
Ms Poke said the driver was seen “driving erratically at speed” before coming “to an abrupt stop”.
“These witnesses had concerns that the driver did not have control,” she added.
“So the witnesses moved their vehicles to prevent them being damaged.”
However, the vehicles of two shoppers were not moved in time and were “struck with such force that they actually moved position,” Ms Poke said.
The court heard that one car suffered “minor damage to the rear bumper” while another sustained “significant” damage to the bodywork.
In total, the insurance premiums for the damage totalled around £1200.
After the collisions, Stewart drove away “at speed in the direction of Covesea Road”, Ms Poke added.
The car was next seen at around 7.45pm while “stuck down an embankment with significant damage”.
Witnesses saw Stewart near the vehicle and apparently “unsteady on his feet”, prompting them to call the police.
There had already been “numerous 999 calls” about his driving in Elgin, Ms Poke added.
At around 8pm, she added: “Police officers saw the accused climbing into the passenger side of a Ford Transit van.”
When officers approached Stewart, the court heard, he “became extremely verbally abusive”.
Ms Poke said threats made by the 32-year old to the officer included that he would “break their jaws and have them done”.
“Given his presentation, they were of the view that he was under the influence of either drink or a substance,” she added.
“His speech was slurred and he was unsteady on his feet.”
Officers attempted to take a breath sample from Stewart while inside Elgin Police Station at around 9.05pm, the court heard.
“He refused and shouted at the police officers,” Ms Poke said.
After the incident on Friday night, the man was held in custody until a court on appearance on Monday, August 5.
Solicitor Matthew O’Neill said Stewart had initially pleaded not guilty to the charges, but changed his plea on the date of the trial.
He said the 32-year-old was “deeply embarrassed” by his actions during the chaotic three-hour incident.
“I think it’s clear how unsettling he found that, hearing my friend’s narration,” the solicitor said.
“Essentially, it’s clear from my discussions with Mr Stewart how deeply embarrassed he is with his behaviour.”
Mr O’Neill said a social work report suggested Stewart had been “demonstrating self-destructive behaviour at the time”.
“He acknowledges that the incident is a situation that got far, far out of hand,” He added.
Describing the man’s mental health as “extremely poor”, the solicitor said he had “attempted to cause himself some significant form of injury”.
The court heard that the owner of the car was a Stewart’s friend and had allowed him to take the vehicle.
Mr O’Neill added that, when his client first took the car, things were going relatively well “with the expection of him being without insurance”.
However, the issues he had been struggling with flared up and had “deeply impacted” his actions.
Stewart, the solicitor added, had apologised to one of the people whose vehicles he had hit.
The turning point, Mr O’Neill said, was after the collisions at Budgen’s petrol station.
“Mr Stewart has taken himself a short distance to a house where he realised the gravity of what has occurred,” He added.
“That has caused him to go into another downward spiral.”
Mr O’Neill told the court that substances were then “consumed”, but that his client had a “limited recollection”.
However, this decision had an “impact on his thinking”
The solicitor also said Stewart was “hell-bent on self destruction” at the time of the incident.
But things had “turned around” since that, Mr O’Neill argued.
The 32-year-old has also engaged with drug and alcohol services and had been attending the social work department “not just when required, but over and above that”.
“The circumstances appear to be much better than last August,” Mr O’Neill added.
Sheriff Eric Brown ordered Stewart to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work within 21 months as a “direct alternative to imprisonment”.
He was also handed 21 months of social work supervision and disqualified from driving for 12 months.
