A Scots cop who knocked a teenager off his bike in a case of mistaken identity during the hunt for a dangerous ‘kill kit’ criminal has been found guilty of careless driving. Constable Kayleigh Simpson was given three points on her licence and admonished after the sheriff expressed “considerable sympathy for the circumstances she finds herself in”.
The 34-year-old officer had been accused of dangerous driving after her marked police motor hit the 15-year-old boy’s bike, causing him to fall to the ground on a cycle path in Glenrothes, Fife, in March 2020. The court previously heard how Simpson spotted the youth, who matched the description of fugitive Kevin Spratley, just moments after the wanted yob had been sighted in the area.
Simpson followed the youth onto the dual purpose path, near Auchmuty High School, but the front of her motor made contact with his back tyre after he veered in front of her. He fell to the ground and suffered a number of minor grazes but escaped serious injury before being taken home to his mother.
Giving evidence, the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted he was aware that Simpson was trying to speak to him but that he was “too scared to stop”.
The now 17-year-old said he was “sent flying” after being “rammed from behind” by Simpson’s motor, which he claimed was being driven “aggressively”.
The trial at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court later heard from the officer herself, who claimed she was only travelling at between five to 10 mph at the time of the collision and had thoroughly risk-assessed the situation.
But she tearfully admitted that she was “momentarily too late to react” when the youth veered in front of her motor and stressed that she never intended to hit him.
Sheriff Alison McKay accepted that the youth, who initially described the contact as “a nudge” when giving his first police statement, may have slightly exaggerated his evidence in court.
She added: “There are only two witnesses to the accident and one of them is the accused herself.
“She chose to give evidence and I did not find her to be self-serving and she explained herself clearly and carefully. The other eyewitness was (the boy).
“He was a credible witness who was only 15 at the time and was doing his utmost to tell the truth. His impression of the collision appears to have been more exaggerated but he can’t really assist me on the standard of the driving because he was facing forward.”
Sheriff Alison McKay stressed that her only role was to decide whether Simpson’s driving was a breach of law despite the “facts of the trial being quite blurred” due the circumstances of the man hunt.
And while she had heard “very little about the standard of driving by the accused”, she was “not satisfied that (Simpson) driving on that cycle path was intrinsically dangerous”.
She added: “I have considerable sympathy for the situation Miss Simpson finds herself in. I am absolutely satisfied that there was an element of carelessness but I don’t think that relates to driving on the cycle path. That appears to be a red herring. You (Simpson) were in a car and the cyclist was on a bike.
“The element of carelessness is failing to keep a safe distance.” She added that it was a “relatively minor” case and was not considering disqualification after finding her guilty of the lesser charge.
Police Scotland have been contacted for comment.
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