Christopher Parry was more than three times over the drink driving limit when he struck pedestrians with his car and he has now been jailed
A drunken clubber mounted the pavement and ploughed his car into into four people, leaving them badly injured.
Christopher Parry was more than three times over the drink driving limit when he struck his victims after sinking booze at Purple nightclub in Buckie, Scotland. Revellers attempted to stop him getting into his car just before 2am.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard on Friday how Parry got behind the wheel of his car and attempted to drive off. A fellow clubber called Michael Rodgers noticed he was intoxicated and tried to stop him from leaving. In court, Lady Drummond jailed him for four years, and banned him from driving for six years.
The judge saw shocking CCTV footage from September 21 2024 which showed Parry’s car striking Mr Rodgers’s wife Ashley and two other men – Daniel Cowie and John Taylor. Prosecutor Lindsey Dalziel told judge Lady Drummond what happened next at 1.55am, the DailyRecord report.
Ms Dalziel said: “Michael Rodgers tried to stop the accused driving away by confronting the accused, leaning into the car, grabbing the accused and attempting to remove him from the vehicle, trying to remove the keys from the ignition and pulling the accused out the vehicle.
“The accused drove off causing Rodgers to the fall to the ground. The accused then drove the car in a circular motion in the car park and narrowly missed striking Michael Rodgers.
“The accused momentarily stopped the vehicle in front of the Pub in the Square which is next to Purple nightclub and at this time witness Ashleigh Rodgers stepped off the pavement to pull witness Michael Rodgers away from the vehicle.
“The accused then made to circle around the car park a second time and drove directly towards witness Michael Rodgers who was standing on the pavement outside the club. The vehicle then also struck Ashleigh Rodgers and Daniel Cowie who were standing on the pavement knocking them to the ground.
“Witness John Taylor was also standing nearby and the accused drove over his foot causing him to fall backwards onto the ground. The accused then drove out of the car park onto High Street through a no exit signed entrance and travelled south bound and was lost to sight.”
The story emerged after Parry, of Cornhill, Aberdeenshire, pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting Michael Rodgers by driving his car forward at a time when the complainer was leaning into the window. Parry also then caused his vehicle to mount the pavement and collide with Mr Rodgers which was to his “injury and to the danger of his life.”
He also admitted a second charge of culpably and recklessly driving a car at speed, whilst under the influence of alcohol, and causing it to mount the pavement and striking Mr Cowie, Mrs Rodgers and Mr Taylor. He admitted this caused injury to Mrs Rodgers, severe injury and impairment to Mr Cowie and severe injury to Mr Taylor.
He also pleaded guilty to a third charge of having 99 micro grammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath – the legal limit in Scotland is 22 micro grammes in 100 millilitres of breath.
Speaking about the impact of Parry’s actions on his victims, Lady Drummond said:” These are serious offences with significant consequences for those you injured. The victim impact statement from one of the complainers describes the immense impact that the crime has had on him physical and psychologically.
“He has gone from being financially stable to unemployed. He has daily headaches, dizziness, mood swings and disturbed sleep. He has been left in fear and terribly depressed. In my view given the seriousness of the offences, the only appropriate sentence is custodial one.”
