Driver caught doing 103mph on motorway in rain

A driver was caught doing 103mph down the M8 motorwayin the rain. Pic: Phil Wilkinson

Andrew Hunter was told he was guilty of “dreadful driving” because spray from surface water had reduced visibility.

Sheriff Martin Edington told him: “I warned you when the case last called that not only were you facing a lengthy disqualification from driving but you were also facing prison because of this disgraceful case of dangerous driving.

“I regard this as a horrific piece of driving in dangerous conditions and you’re not helped by the fact that you have a number of previous convictions.

“By the thinnest of margins you can escape a custodial sentence and be sentenced to a community based alternative.”

Hunter, 36, of Stranraer, Wigtownshire, pled guilty at an earlier hearing to driving dangerously on November 12 last year.

Livingston Sheriff Court heard cops caught him speeding in his works van on the M8 Edinburgh to Glasgow motorway near Whitburn, West Lothian.

He claimed in court that he had slept in and was running late to start work at 4am for a courier company in Livingston, West Lothian.

Anna Murphy, defending, said Hunter was now entering a new area of work because his employers had not looked after him well throughout the case.

She added: “He accepts his driving was dangerous. He very much regrets his conduct and regards this as a wake-up call.”

Hunter was put under supervision for a year to address his attitude to driving and ordered to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work under a community payback order.

He was also banned from driving for two years and ordered to sit the extended driving test before getting his licence back.