Duo admit 70-mile golf buggy bid

Two men have been fined for taking a golf buggy onto the A75 road in a bid to make the 70-mile journey home from Portpatrick to Dumfries. They travelled on the road for about an hour at a top speed of 15mph before being stopped by police.

Stranraer Sheriff Court was told the two men from Dumfries had committed an "extremely foolish offence". Robert Watt, 21, and Mark Gillespie, 25, both from Dumfries, were spotted at about 2335 BST on 10 June in the buggy on the A77 near Portpatrick, in south west Scotland.

Police were contacted and the pair were eventually stopped about an hour later on the A75, having travelled about 15 miles to Dervaird near Glenluce. Gillespie was driving the buggy and was almost three times over the drink limit.



The vehicle had also been travelling without using lights. A police spokesman said the possibility of a crash between the buggy and a lorry did "not bear thinking about".

Watt admitted stealing the buggy from Lagganmore Golf Club while Gillespie pled guilty to dangerous driving, drink driving and driving without a licence and insurance.

Defending Gillespie, lawyer Arnold Brazenall said that although it was an "amusing episode" his client now accepted that the consequences could have been very serious. Gillespie was fined a total of £525, banned from driving for three years and ordered to sit an extended re-test. Watt was fined £150 for the theft of the buggy.