Woman who let child drive car must do unpaid work
Sophie-Leigh Gemmell admitted culpable and reckless conduct
- Published
A woman who allowed a girl aged under 10 to drive a car through an Aberdeenshire village has been given a community payback order.
Sophie-Leigh Gemmell, 32, previously admitted culpable and reckless conduct after footage emerged of the incident in Crimond.
The young girl drove the car barefoot and in bad weather on 10 July last year.
At Peterhead Sheriff Court, Gemmell was ordered to carry out 134 hours of unpaid work in the community, reduced from 200 hours due to her plea.
A video of the incident - which lasted about a minute - was seen on social media.
It showed the child driving in the dark, using the wipers and indicators, and peering over the steering wheel.
A video of the incident was seen on social media
The child has bare feet and music is playing, including by Sugababes in one section.
Gemmell, from Crimond, could be heard cheering during the video.
Peterhead Sheriff Court heard that the child was clearly struggling to see over the steering wheel.
It was also told that the car's wipers were on and there were large areas of standing water on the road. Gemmell instructed the child to indicate.
The court heard that when police later attended Gemmell's address, she said: "Is this about the driving thing? I shouldn't have done it."
The young girl was driving the car in the village of Crimond in Aberdeenshire
Last month Gemmell admitted culpable and reckless conduct with utter disregard for the consequences by allowing a child to drive a motor vehicle on a public road in poor weather and barefoot to the danger of others - in particular to the child.
Sheriff Annella Cowan had previously deferred sentence to obtain a criminal justice social work report.
The court was told that Gemmell wished to apologise and showed genuine remorse for her actions.
Sentencing Gemmell, Sheriff Alan Sinclair described her actions as "reckless in the extreme".
He added that she was very fortunate not to have suffered more serious consequences.
She was told she must complete her unpaid work within 12 months.
- Published30 June
