Cleared: Airport dash officer who caused crash

A SHERIFF has been condemned for clearing a police officer who caused an accident as he drove with flashing blue lights and sirens because a senior colleague was running late for a flight.

Chief Inspector Tom Forrester, a former head of road policing in Grampian, encouraged PC Ashley Forbes to turn on the lights as they drove to an airport.

Mr Forrester was charged with dangerous driving and violating the trust and duty of the force by failing to report the accident on the B977 Dyce to Belhelvie road in 2008. He was cleared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday but may still face police disciplinary proceedings.

PC Forbes, who was at the wheel, was charged with dangerous driving but found guilty of the lesser charge of careless driving and failing to stop.

Sheriff Kenneth Stewart said he was sympathetic to the position he had been placed in by his senior officer and gave him an absolute discharge. He said of PC Forbes: "I wish to make it clear that I take a sympathetic view of the circumstances in which he found himself."

The court's decision not to punish any of the people in the police car at the time has been met with concern.

Richard Baker, Scottish Labour's justice spokesman, said: "It's absolutely fundamental that everyone is treated equally in the eyes of the law. It is particularly important that this applies to police officers who are there to uphold the law. Many people will regard these officers as fortunate not to receive any penalty as a result of the court case.

"There may be disciplinary procedures. I'm sure Grampian Police will follow due process."

Robert Brown, the Scottish Liberal Democrats' justice spokesman, said Chief Inspector Forrester should receive some punishment. "It's manifestly an abuse of his privilege," he said. "Police officers who operate blue lights when they should not be doing so should be dealt with at least in disciplinary terms by their forces."

A spokesman for Victim Support Scotland said: "While not wanting to comment on the specific circumstances of this case, clearly there was a victim of an accident and it has to be assumed that, from the circumstances as relayed in court, it led to this outcome."

The court heard that a Ford Fiesta had driven into the back of Carol Dawson's Volkswagen Golf when she slowed down to avoid colliding with the police car, which was coming towards her with flashing lights on the wrong side of the road.

The sheriff had previously ruled some evidence inadmissible as the officers were interviewed without a lawyer present.A Supreme Court judgment relating to Peter Cadder, from Glasgow, triggered a change in Scots law that means all suspects must be provided with access to legal representation when being interviewed by police.

Inspector Ian Kirkwood, of Grampian Police, told the court "Ashley had been put in a pretty bad position" by his senior officer. Both officers declined to comment on the case.

Superintendent Colin Brown, head of Grampian Police's professional standards department, said: "We have followed the proceedings closely and noted the outcomes and the comments that have been made.

"A report in relation to this matter will now be prepared for the deputy chief constable and in line with good employment practice, it is not appropriate for Grampian Police to make any further comment on this matter."

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "Matters of internal police discipline are a matter for individual forces."