
A FORMER SOLDIER has narrowly escaped a jail sentence after answering to the latest in a long line of offences for driving without insurance or a licence.
Elgin man Allan Moir, 30, was stopped by police in November while driving on the Bede Road in Rathven when it was discovered that he had only a provisional licence, no insurance and no learner plates showing on the vehicle.
At Elgin Sheriff Court on Thursday, Sheriff Chris Dickson was told that when police searched the vehicle they also discovered radio equipment that they believed had been stolen. A later check with council employees at the Moray Council landfill site in Spey Bay confirmed that the radios were part of several items stolen from the site in October last year.
Sheriff Dickson noted that the driving offence was Moir’s 13th for driving without insurance and sixth for doing so without a licence – a record he described as ‘shocking’.
Moir, whose address was given as Sheriffston Cottages in Elgin, admitted taking and resetting office equipment from the Council depot and the driving offences. His solicitor said that he had not stolen the items but had purchased them knowing that they had been obtained illegally.
Solicitor Brent Lockie told the court that Moir was an ex-soldier who had served in Afghanistan and had learned a “salutary lesson”.
Sheriff Dickson disqualified Moir from driving for 40 months and ordered him to undertake 40 hours of unpaid work.
Appearing alongside Moir, Neil Young, 29 and from Buckie, admitted taking and attempting to reset the radios – he will be sentenced next month.