Dealer who drove at 90 miles per hour in 30 zone has been spared jail

Hamilton Sheriff Court heard that Ryan Martin kept going despite bursting a tyre when he hit the kerb. He rammed one of the police vehicles before he was caught after his powerful Audi 4 hit a garden fence.

Martin, 31, of Chrighton Green, admitted driving dangerously and failing to take a driver's drug test after the chase on May 17, 2020. He also admitted being concerned in the supply of cannabis. Martin has a similar drugs conviction from 2016 when he was given a 12-month supervision order.

He again avoided jail on another cannabis supply charge after £20,000 worth of the drug was seized from his then home in Blairhill Street, Coatbridge, in 2019. Martin was on bail for that offence when he was again caught in May 2020. He realised police officers were tailing him on the M73 near Baillieston around 9pm. He sped off on the A89 towards Bargeddie then to Tannochside, Viewpark and Bellshill.

Jennifer Cunningham, prosecuting, said Martin clocked speeds of more than 90 miles an hour in areas where the limit is 30, first hitting the kerb in Gartcosh Walk onto Main Street where he collided with another car.

Martin kept going along Calder Road and Motherwell Road where he avoided police efforts to block him, crashing into a police car in the process. The fiscal added: "He cut across the central reservation on Motherwell Road and turned into Blairholm Drive where his vehicle came to a halt after hitting a garden fence."

Police found £2,900 and a bag containing cannabis worth £450 in the Audi. Another £1,135 was seized from his Coatbridge home. Defence agent Stephen Dryden said Martin had been addicted to cannabis, but stressed but was a “different person now”.

Sheriff Alasdair MacFadyen to ld him: "On a margin I'm persuaded, because of the positive factors in your life, that custody is not the only reasonable disposal."

Martin will be confined to his home between 8pm and 8am each day for 10 months under an electronic tagging order. He was fined £2,900 and must also carry out 270 hours of unpaid community work. The sheriff banned him from driving for five years.