UK NEWS

FOOTBALLER ‘IN TEARS’ AS SPEED COPS CAUGHT HIM

DRIVING: Aberdeen driver Lee Miller was allegedly driving at 120mph

Saturday July 4,2009

By Stephen Wilkie

A SCOTLAND international footballer was in tears after he was caught speeding on his way to a nightclub, a court heard yesterday.

Aberdeen centre forward Lee Miller was allegedly clocked by traffic police at up to 120mph on the A90 Aberdeen to Dundee road. The 26-year-old is also accused of driving at 90mph through a 40mph contraflow.

Stonehaven Sheriff Court was told police officers driving at 125mph struggled to catch up with Miller after seeing the Ford Focus speeding by.

Grampian Police Constable Alistair MacLeod said he was parked at a notorious north-east accident blackspot when Miller’s vehicle went past.

He said: “We saw a car travelling south. It was quite clear it was travelling in excess of the 70mph limit. When you do this job as a traffic officer, you get a fair indication of how fast cars are going.

“However, on this particular night the car was just going so fast. It was grossly over the speed limit.” The road traffic officer said they came across Miller’s car at Fourdon junction near the accident blackspot.

He said they went in pursuit of the vehicle at 125mph but could not catch up with the Ford Focus.

Constable MacLeod told the court he feared Miller’s journey would end in tragedy because of the speed the player was driving at.

He added: “I was concerned something was going to go horribly wrong. It just needs a puddle in the road. If someone is going to crash a car at that speed the very minimum that could happen is serious injury.

“We were unable to catch up with the car given the speed he was driving at. Given the time of night and the damp road conditions, we decided to charge him with dangerous driving.”

Constable MacLeod said they only caught up with Miller when he braked for two speed cameras and they clocked him driving at an average 90mph through the restricted-speed contraflow.

When he eventually stopped for their flashing lights, Constable MacLeod said Miller was in tears.

He told procurator fiscal depute Celia Dyckhoff: “He had some text from his girlfriend, some nightclub he wanted to go back to.

“I remember he was pretty upset. I pointed out to him the fact that if you’re going to travel at that speed there’s a risk of being caught. I was trying to calm him down, he was in a terrible state.”

Miller, of Perth, denies dangerous driving last March. The case will continue at a later date.

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