Teen hit cyclist after taking father's car

A TEENAGER who had taken his father's car without his permission phoned him in a panic to tell him he thought he had killed someone after knocking down a cyclist.

It was the second time in two weeks that 19-year-old Gordon Watt, who was disqualified from driving in March of this year, had taken the car without consent.

Watt, on remand in Saughton, had already pleaded guilty at Edinburgh Sheriff Court to taking and driving away the car on October 17 and to charges of driving while disqualified and without insurance.

When Watt appeared before Sheriff Fiona Reith yesterday, he pleaded guilty to again driving away the car without consent on November 1, driving while disqualified, without insurance and to knocking down a cyclist in East Hermitage Place the following day.

Sheriff Reith placed him on probation for two years; ordered him to perform 150 hours of community service and disqualified him from driving for two years. She also fined him 200. She deferred sentence on the November charges until next February.