A motorist charged with driving dangerously at 119 miles per hour has had his case dropped after telling a court he would not be in Scotland for several months.
Soldier Peter Dalgleish was due to go on trial this month but prosecutors cleared him after being told he was on duty abroad until the summer.
His solicitor asked for the case against him to be put off to a later date, but fiscal depute Stuart Richardson told the court he would accept a not guilty plea.
It is the second serious driving case to be dropped at Perth Sheriff Court court in the past fortnight because the accused has been abroad.
Lance Corporal Dalgleish, 24, Linwood, had denied driving dangerously and at excess speed of 119 mph on the Perth to Inverness A9 on 7 June last year.
The charge alleges he was speeding on the dual carriageway where sheep and deer regularly stray onto the road and where other road users would be unable to judge his speed.
The case had first called in court last August and then again in September, October and last month and Dalgleish was not present on any occasion.
The court was informed that Dalgleish was part of a task force deployed to Libya.
Less than two weeks ago, one of Europe's top mime artists escaped any punishment on a drink- driving charge after he consistently failed to appear in the same court.
Francois Lecoq was arrested during a trip to Scotland and charged with being drunk in charge of his car. He was due to go on trial but his case was not called after the 48-year-old - whose image is displayed by the National Galleries of Scotland - told Perth Sheriff Court he had no intention of coming for a trial.
And the Crown Office confirmed it was no longer pursuing the case against the French actor and mime instructor. The case was dropped without any public explanation.
The case against him, which had cost the taxpayer thousands of pounds to prepare, called in court on five separate occasions without Lecoq appearing on any of them.
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