Footballer on 120mph speed trial

Footballer Lee Miller has denied the speeding charges

A police officer has told a court she reached speeds of 120mph as she followed a car driven by Aberdeen footballer Lee Miller.

Mr Miller denies driving dangerously at up to 120mph in a 70mph zone on the A90 Aberdeen to Dundee road on 30 March last year.

It is also alleged the 25-year-old drove at up to 90mph in a 40mph zone.

The Dons and Scotland forward, of Perth, went on trial at Stonehaven Sheriff Court.

Grampian Pc Clare Doherty, 30, who was driving, told the court she and another officer tailed the black Ford Focus ST over a five-mile stretch of road.

She said they spotted the vehicle "travelling in excess of the speed limit" as they sat at a well-lit junction.

The marked police patrol car then accelerated to "keep up" as it travelled on the southbound carriageway.

She explained that although the car was marked it did not appear as if the driver of the car was aware of the police car behind it.

'Safety reasons'

PC Doherty then told the court how her accompanying officer told her she was driving at about 120mph as they pursued the car.

The officer then told how the car stayed in front of the police car after travelling two miles past the Fordoun junction.

She told the court: "I believe I said we may have to let the vehicle go for safety reasons. I wasn't willing to travel any faster than I was."

Constable Doherty then told the court how the car entered a contraflow system with a 40mph limit.

The trial was taking place at Stonehaven Sheriff Court

She told the court: "I saw the car, which was still travelling at speed, went round the chicane very quickly, and seemed to be unstable."

Pc Doherty then said the patrol car was travelling at about 90mph as it attempted to close the gap between the two cars.

The court was then told that she turned on the car's flashing lights when she knew there was a safe spot for the car ahead to pull over.

Her colleague then approached the car after it pulled over, and Mr Miller got out.

She told the court: "Throughout the whole incident we had been discussing the driving of the vehicle. We agreed the gentlemen was driving dangerously."

Fiscal depute Cecilia Dyckhoff asked the officer what the weather conditions were like.

She said: "It was dark, the road was slightly damp and was drizzly by the end of the incident."

Not included

Ronnie Renucci, defending, claimed that the two officers had not checked the calibration of the two independent speedometers in the police car after the incident.

He put it to Pc Doherty that "the instruments aren't necessarily accurate. Because you assumed it was working correctly?"

She replied: "Yes".

She admitted that Mr Miller's vehicle had not been "pulling away" from the police car, but that she was unable to close the gap.

Mr Renucci then put it to the officer that the evidence she gave in court was not included in her statement collated after the incident.

He further claimed that both statements given by the two officers were identical and both had omitted "significant" aspects of the evidence heard in court.

The case was adjourned until July.