Novice driver clocked at 125mph

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/scotland/north_east/8230612.stm

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A teenage motorist caught doing 125mph just days after getting his licence has been convicted of dangerous driving.

Vern Ross, 18, was clocked by police as he overtook cars on a stretch of dual carriageway on the A90 Peterhead to Aberdeen road last October.

Ross, who was 17 at the time, had passed his test 12 days earlier and had two teenage girls in the car with him.

Sentence at Aberdeen Sheriff Court was deferred for background reports but he was banned from driving in the interim.

Ross, of Scotstown Lodge, Aberdeen, was spotted by officers in an unmarked police car on the dual carriageway near Bridgend, by Ellon, on 26 October last year.

Pc Charles Hogg said he observed the Peugeot 306 GTI overtake several vehicles in a "cross-hatched" area of road that marked the end of the dual carriageway.

Prosecuting, fiscal depute Ian Warburton asked Pc Hogg if Mr Ross had said anything when he was apprehended.

'Not acceptable'

Pc Hogg replied: "After my colleague gave him some cautionary advice, Mr Ross apologised for his driving."

Mr Warburton asked if Ross' age had given him any cause for concern.

Pc Hogg said: "It seriously concerned me and even more so when he produced his licence. I learned that he had only passed his test two weeks previously."

Sheriff David Hall said he was "satisfied" that the combination of speed, location, his age and inexperience, were enough to convict him of the original charge.

He added: "This is an extremely serious matter and it's the court's view that you were driving dangerously. You had only passed your test 12 days before - that kind of conduct is simply not acceptable."