A drug driver who led police on an 80mph car chase before smashing through a hedge and landing between two railway tracks with a teenage relative in the passenger seat has escaped a jail term despite being slammed for “idiocy at the highest level”.
Craig Thomson was pursued from East Lothian into Edinburgh by officers as he sped the wrong way on a roundabout in August 2019.
The 29-year-old turned off his headlights during a heart racing chase by a police mobile patrol unit while racing through the streets of Musselburgh and Portobello.
He later crashed his Honda Civic down an embankment with a 16-year-old passenger before the vehicle came to rest between live train tracks, the Daily Record reports.
Sheriff Douglas Keir branded Thomson "entirely irresponsible” adding the incident could have been "far, far worse" after hearing the girl had been successfully treated for a fractured arm and leg among other injuries.
Thomson appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Friday for sentencing after the case had been deferred for reports.
The sheriff put him on a restricted liberty order for 12 months meaning Thomson must wear an electronic tag and stay home between 8pm and 6am daily.
At a previous hearing, Thomson pled guilty to causing serious injury to his relative by driving dangerously while under the influence of drugs.
Fiscal depute Alan Wickham said police spotted the Civic in Tranent, East Lothian, at about midnight on August 29, 2019.
Mr Wickham said officers approached the vehicle which then drove off quickly towards Whitecraig.
The court heard Thomson raced at speeds of 80mph on a 60mph road and repeatedly drove onto the opposing carriageway and took corners at speed.
Mr Wickham said the accused went through a red light and onto the opposing carriageway again as he headed for Portobello, Edinburgh.
Along Musselburgh’s North High Street the Civic was travelling at 70mph to 80mph, he added, and went on to Brunstane Road South.
When police caught up, the prosecutor said the car had been driven through a large hedge and officers could hear a female shouting for help.
Mr Wickham said: “The car had gone through the hedge, down an embankment, and finished up between two railway tracks.”
The teenager required surgery to insert a nail into her left femur, though was later discharged from hospital with "no long term issues."
Earlier defence agent Ross Gardner said Thomson had been going through a “messy and difficult time” when he committed the offences.
Mr Gardner said: “He seems to have changed his behaviour since this pretty groundbreaking event.”
Sheriff Keir told Thomson his decision to get behind the wheel after taking drugs and his subsequent driving was “idiocy at the highest level”.
He added Thomson’s crimes met the “custody threshold” but his sentence took into account him being a first offender and “the remorse and shame” he’d shown.
Thomson, of Edinburgh’s Oxgangs area, was also banned from driving for 18 months.
