Will Young handed driving ban after crashing into parked vehicle in Scotland
Singer loses licence after narrowly avoiding fellow motorist in lay-by smash
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Your support makes all the difference.Will Young has been banned from driving after a man was forced to jump clear of his car as the singer crashed into a parked vehicle.
The 39-year-old former Pop Idol winner was around a mile south of Earlston, in the Scottish Borders, driving towards Edinburgh on the A68 when the incident took place in January.
Jedburgh Sheriff Court heard how Young drove into a lay-by, which had a car parked in it, at around 40 miles per hour before realising his mistake.
Conditions that evening were described as “fairly poor”, with the sun having already set and snow on settled on the ground.
Procurator fiscal Graham Fraser said the owner of the parked Nissan Qashqai was returning to his car after visiting a friend’s nearby farm at the moment Young smashed into the vehicle.
He added the man had to “jump clear to avoid being struck”.
The court heard the entertainer slammed on his brakes to avoid hitting the man and lost control of his Mercedes G-Class.
Young's 4x4 was damaged but he “wrote off” the Nissan in the crash, the court heard.
His solicitor said the singer had “clearly he made a mistake”, explaining he had thought bollards marking the entry to the lay-by were in fact the road’s central reservation.
The court was told Young had been “extremely apologetic” for his “momentary loss of control” and sheltered the man from the cold in his car before calling the police.
Young had already pleaded guilty in March at Selkirk Sheriff Court to driving without due care as well as at excessive speed for the weather conditions and for entering a lay-by.
Sentencing the Evergreen singer, sheriff J Euan Edment imposed five penalty points for the incident and banned him from driving for six months.
Young already had 11 points on his licence as well as a drink-driving conviction from 1998.
A disqualification comes if 12 or more penalty points are built up within three years.
“I understand it's been a momentary lapse in concentration,” sheriff Edment said: “To your credit you pled guilty from the outset. You took the man into your car - dealt with in in a very honourable and responsible manner.”
Young was also fined £600 over the incident.
Additional reporting by PA
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