Will Young banned from driving after narrowly missing man and ploughing into parked car with Mercedes

Fiona Simpson28 May 2018
WEST END FINAL

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Singer Will Young has been banned from driving after narrowly missing a man before smashing into a parked car in his Mercedes.

The car’s owner was forced to jump clear of the Evergreen singer’s vehicle when he mistook a bollard for the central reservation during a snow storm.

Jedburgh Sheriff Court heard Young drove into a lay-by, which had a parked car in it, at about 40 miles per hour before realising his mistake.

Conditions were described as "fairly poor", with it being dark with snow.

Singer Will Young arrives at Jedburgh Sheriff Court
PA

Young who already has 11 points on his licence and a drink-driving conviction from 1998 was banned for six months and handed a £600 fine.

The 39-year-old entertainer was about a mile south of Earlston on the A68 driving towards Edinburgh at around 6pm on January 21 when the crash happened.

Procurator fiscal Graham Fraser told how the owner of the parked Nissan Qashqai was returning from a friend's farm and crossing the lay-by at the time.

He then had to "jump clear to avoid being struck".

Will Young was banned from driving at Jedburgh Sheriff's Court
PA

The court heard the entertainer braked to avoid hitting the man and lost control of his Mercedes G-Class.

Young's 4x4 was damaged but he "wrote off" the Nissan in the crash, the court heard.

His lawyer said "clearly he made a mistake" in relation to mistaking the bollards - which marked the entry to the lay-by - as the central reservation.

The court heard the singer had been "extremely apologetic" for his "momentary loss of control" and sheltered the man from the cold in his car before calling the police.

Young pleaded guilty in March at Selkirk Sheriff Court to driving without due care as well as at excessive speed for the weather conditions and for entering a lay-by, before appearing at the Jedburgh court for sentencing on Monday.

Sheriff J Euan Edment imposed five penalty points for the incident and banned him from driving for six months.

Sheriff Edment said: "I understand it's been a momentary lapse in concentration.

"To your credit you pled guilty from the outset.

"You took the man into your car - dealt with in in a very honourable and responsible manner."

Additional reporting by Press Association.

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