Fife motorist banned after 122 mph police chase

A Fife man was involved in a high-speed car chase with a police patrol which pursued him through Fife hitting 122 mph.

Officers saw him take a steep bend going on to the A92 near Halbeath at around 100 mph where the speed limit is 50 mph and then he had to brake to avoid a collision.

Shahzad Aslam (44), of Dean Park Court, Kirkcaldy, denied dangerous driving but was found guilty at Dunfermline Sheriff Court after a two-day trial.

The court then heard Aslam had a conviction for a similar dangerous driving offence committed in 2013 and two previous bans.

Sheriff Alison McKay found him guilty of dangerous driving on 25th September 2015 on the M90 northbound and A92 eastbound at speeds of 100 mph in a 70 mph limit.

He pulled over sharply from the offside lane into the nearside lane, into the path of a vehicle and then braked sharply in order to exit the M90.

He entered the overpass slip road for the A92 at excessive speed for the road conditions which then had a 50mph limit and braked sharply to avoid collision with vehicles entering the A92 from the Halbeath slip road.

A police patrol car saw a BMW being driven at excessive speed near Rosyth and followed it.

Patrol driver PC Stuart Gibson (36) told the trial the car was spotted at 12.25am and he followed it, accelerating up to 122 mph, which was as fast as their vehicle could reach.

The officer was not able to say exactly what speed the other vehicle was travelling at but said, “he was going faster than us”.

“It accelerated as we joined the M90 and was about 300 metres in front.” The officer said he tried to track the target vehicle by keeping a set distance to find out how fast it was going.

“We couldn’t close the gap. It was getting further away. The gap was growing.”

At one point another car had to “brake hard” because of Aslam’s driving, PC Gibson told the court.

Aslam was eventually stopped near the Halbeath park and ride site.

PC Andrew Siggers (49) described seeing Aslam take the bend from the M90 on to the A92 at around 100 mph.

Defence solicitor Sarah Meehan said her client was a father-of-seven and he worked part-time in his son’s shop earning £200 a week.

Sheriff McKay imposed a two-and-a-half year driving ban and fined Aslam £750. He will also have to pass a driving test at the end of his disqualification to get his licence back.