A top Scots businessman who drove in defiance of a driving ban to see a pregnant sheep was warned by a sheriff today that if he showed "contempt" for court orders again he would end up in prison.
Alasdair Beaton, a Royal Highland Show sponsor, stables owner, and boss of a civil engineer firm with Scottish Government contracts, was stopped by police last month on his way to tend the ewe in Slammannan, Stirlingshire.
The 64-year-old millionaire hit the headlines in 2019 after an employment tribunal ruled his own daughter, Kirsty Ure, had been unfairly dismissed from the family riding farm, the Blue Ridge Equestrian Centre near Falkirk.
It was reported that Ms Ure, 34, had worked full time at the centre but began working from home after finding Beaton was cheating on her mum Linda, 63, with the stable manager, Lynsey Thompson, 43.
The Glasgow tribunal awarded Kirsty £5,391.
Today Falkirk Sheriff Court heard that the ewe was having difficulty lambing at Wester Crosshill Farm, Slammanan, where Linda lives.
Beaton was stopped by police at the wheel of a Ford Transit Connect 240 Limited in High Street, Slammanan at 2.30 pm on April 16th, on the way to assist it
Only four months earlier, he had been disqualified from driving for six months under the totting-up procedure due to the number of points on his licence.
Prosecutor Sarah Smith said: "The offence speaks for itself."
Beaton, who lives at the Blue Ridge Equestrian Centre, Shieldhill, Falkirk, pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified and driving without insurance.
Solicitor Paul Langan, defending, said: "He has a farm that his wife lives at a few miles down the road.
"They run this farm - he and his wife are separated. He received a call to do with lambing, this being the season, that there was a sheep in distress giving birth to a lamb the wrong way.
"There was nobody else there. Stupidly he entered the vehicle and drove there. It's a matter of regret. He had only two months' disqualification to go.
"The vehicle was a company vehicle."
Mr Langhan said Beaton normally drove 100,000 miles a year for his civil engineering business, Falkirk-based ChemCem Scotland Ltd - which looks after road and railway bridges.
He said: "They have a contract with the Scottish Government, and it has been an extremely successful business. That involves a substantial amount of mileage each year.
"He is obviously in a position to pay a fine and I'd ask that he is given full credit for the fact that he is pleading guilty at the outset."
Sheriff Derek Livingston fined Beaton £355 and banned him from driving for a further eight months.
He said there was "no good reason" for the businessman to have been driving.
He warned Beaton: "Driving while disqualified is a serious offence. It basically involves a degree of contempt for a court order. What you are doing is disobeying a court order. Do that again and there's a fair chance you'll end up in prison."
Asked on leaving court if he had any comment, Beaton told a reporter: "No."
