Car technician who took customer’s car for a high speed spin sacked after incident caught on dashboard camera

A TECHNICIAN who took a customer’s car for a high-speed spin was sacked after the stunt was recorded by the dashboard camera.

The Fiat’s owner reviewed the on-board footage when he got the car back and realised Frank Meldrum had been doing nearly 100mph.

Meldrum was sacked by Arnold Clark as a result of the joyride in the Abarth 595 Turismo and ended up in the dock at Perth Sheriff Court last week. Car owner Robert Stewart, 30, of Blairgowrie, contacted police when he realised his car had been driven at speed by Meldrum.

Fiscal depute Michael Sweeney told the court: “Mr Stewart made arrangements for the car to be taken to the garage in Perth for repair.

“The dealership arranged for the accused to collect the car from Mr Stewart’s home in Blairgowrie.

“He attended at 7am and then drove to the garage. Mr Stewart received the vehicle back later that day. He had a dash-cam fitted to his vehicle. He has reviewed this footage and the accused is seen travelling at excessive speed in two short bursts. The first was in the 50mph zone and the second in a 70mph zone.

“In the 50 limit, it shows 68 on the dash-cam and when he is in the national speed limit area, there is a recording of 94 miles per hour.”

The car’s owner was so outraged by the abuse of trust by Meldrum that he called in the police and the technician was initially charged with dangerous driving.

Meldrum told officers: “I didn’t realise the speed I was going. The customer reported it had been misfiring and cutting out at high revs.”

In court this week, Meldrum, 53, Hay Street, Coupar Angus, admitted a reduced charge of careless driving on the A93 Blairgowrie to Perth road last May. Mr Sweeney said the speeds recorded by the dash-cam were not fully accurate so Meldrum could not be charged with speeding.

Solicitor Steve Lafferty, defending, said: “He accepts he drives at excessive speed on two occasions.

“There was a light volume of traffic as it was before school time. He does regret it. Once his employers became aware of this, he lost his job.”

Meldrum received six penalty points on his licence and was fined £250.

A spokeswoman for Arnold Clark said:”We take pride in the excellent work provided by our service division and are confident this was an isolated incident.”

Mr Stewart declined to comment when contacted by The Sunday Post.