A sawmill worker who drove at one of the highest speeds ever recorded on the A9 narrowly escaped jail yesterday on the day before controversial average speed cameras went live on the main trunk road.
Neil Warner, 44 was clocked doing 132mph in his Subaru Impreza on a 60mph stretch of straight single carriageway near Carrbridge at Lynphail by a police patrol doing speed checks at 2pm on November 17 last year.
Warner of Woodside Avenue, Grantown on Spey, admitted a charge of dangerous driving and was fined £2,500 and banned from driving for three years. He will have to resit the extended driving test before getting back behind the wheel.
Warner's lawyer, Willie Young said his client sold the car the day after the offence.
He added: "His job is not at risk from the inevitable disqualification although he works as a driver at the sawmill. He earns approximately £1,500 a month.
"This was a very powerful car he had had for only six months and he drove it at high speed for a short distance on a straight stretch of road in benign conditions."
Sheriff David Sutherland said: "Despite the road conditions, this is a case of grossly excessive speed and I had been considering a period of imprisonment." He added that because Warner had a clean licence except for a previous speeding conviction he would not jail him.
Warner winced as he was ordered to pay the fine at £250 a month.
Some 74 people have been killed on the A9 between Dunblane and Thurso since 2008.
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