An Aberdeen teenager has been fined and banned from the road after leading police on an “extremely dangerous” chase at speeds of up to 80mph.
Cameron Reyboz, 19, was spotted by police “accelerating harshly” on North Esplanade West around 11.25pm on October 7.
And when officers gave chase to try to stop the speeder they struggled to keep up and made no ground on the teenager, despite travelling at more than 70mph.
Fiscal depute Lynzi Souter told Aberdeen Sheriff Court: “At approximately 11.25pm two police officers were on duty monitoring traffic flow on North Esplanade West.
“At this time their attention was drawn to the vehicle being driven by the accused.”
The car was seen to “accelerate harshly” and travel “well in excess of the speed limit” before undertaking another vehicle.
She said: “Officers decided to follow the vehicle with the intention of stopping it. They followed it across the roundabout on to Riverside Drive.
“The accused’s vehicle was travelling well in excess of the speed limit and continued to pull away from the police vehicle.
“Travelling with blue lights on, the officers accelerated to speeds in excess of 60mph and made no ground catching up with the vehicle.”
At the height of the pursuit Mrs Souter said the police vehicle accelerated to 73mph and still made no ground on Reyboz.
Prior to the junction with Holburn Street officers lost sight of the teen but caught up with him in a car park.
Mrs Souter said: “The accused was still in the driver’s seat. He immediately admitted to officers he had been the driver and apologised for his driving,” adding that he was cautioned and charged at around 11.50pm.
Sheriff Ian Cruickshank commented: “Not just a minute of madness, 20 minutes of madness.”
Keep up to date with the latest news with The Evening Express newsletter
Reyboz, whose address was given in court papers as Devanha Gardens, Aberdeen, pled guilty to dangerous driving, undertaking and overtaking vehicles within a built-up area and driving grossly in excess of the speed limit of 30mph at up to 80mph.
Defence agent Liam Mcallister said the actual period of time driving was between five and 10 minutes, adding his client had panicked and was remorseful.
He said: “Mr Reyboz thankfully came to his senses, parked up, remained within the vehicle and waited for police officers to approach him.
“He’s apologetic for this. It’s a quite despicable piece of driving.”
Mr Mcallister added: “Mr Reyboz is a young man of just 19. He has done nothing but accept the manner which he drove was dangerous.
“He has pled guilty at the very earliest opportunity.
“He is about to leave and go to Australia. He’s fortunate enough to be admitted to a university course there.
“He’s a first offender and now has a very serious conviction to his name.”
Sheriff Cruickshank said: “This is an extremely dangerous piece of driving.
“Speed limits are there for a reason. They’re there to save your life and other people’s lives and it’s ridiculous to speed in a built-up area like this.”
He fined him £700 and disqualified him from driving for 12 months.
This article originally appeared on the Evening Express website. For more information, read about our new combined website.