A DRIVER who was clocked at 130 miles per hour between Balloch and Dumbarton has been warned he faces a lengthy jail term.

Brendan Black reached the eye-watering speed on the A82 south of the Stoneymollan roundabout in April.

The 22-year-old tried to squeeze his blue Mercedes between two lines of stationary vehicles on the approach to the Lomondgate roundabout in a bid to escape from chasing police - damaging his own car, and four other vehicles, in the process.

After exiting the roundabout on to Studio Drive, Black struck a road sign and tried to make his escape on foot by jumping over the perimeter wall of a nearby house - only to find himself in the back garden of an off-duty police officer, who detained him until colleagues arrived at the scene.

Black was slammed by a judge for his “outrageous” driving when he appeared at Dumbarton Sheriff Court on Friday - and told it was “miraculous” that he hadn’t killed anyone.

Black appeared for sentencing after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to two charges of driving dangerously and at excessive speed, forcing other motorists to take evasive action to avoid a collision.

Emma Thomson, prosecuting, told the court Black had evaded police on the A85 between Lochearnhead and Lix Toll, and on the A82 near Crianlarich, by driving at more than 100 miles an hour on the afternoon of Monday, April 15.

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Ms Thomson said two officers had pulled Black’s vehicle over, and that one of them had gone over to the Mercedes and asked him to turn off the engine and take the keys out of the ignition - only for Black to slam his foot on the accelerator and make off.

“The accused was observed to make numerous overtaking manoeuvres at high speed,” Ms Thomson said, “overtaking vehicles on tight corners, disregarding oncoming traffic and causing others to swerve out of the way, flash their headlights and sounding their horns.

“Police lost the vehicle from their sight, but made efforts to continue the pursuit, and in making those efforts police were travelling at speeds of approximately 100mph; however, the suspect vehicle was clearly exceeding those speeds to make good his escape.”

Eventually the officers were told to give up their pursuit.

But later that afternoon two other police witnesses spotted the same Mercedes being driven erratically on the A82 at the Sloy power station north of Tarbet - prompting colleagues near Dumbarton to plan an intercept manoeuvre.

After describing how Black’s journey was ended by the collision with a sign on Studio Drive, and how he was apprehended after jumping over a wall into the off-duty officer’s garden, Ms Thomson showed the court two pieces of dashcam footage shared by other motorists.

Black, of Woodvale Avenue in Airdrie, appeared without legal representation at Friday’s hearing, stating that he had repeatedly applied for legal aid to fund his defence and been told he was not eligible because his earnings were too high - though he also claimed he could not afford the up-front costs of a solicitor.

Sheriff William Gallacher told him: “I can’t force you to go and get a lawyer. But I’ve read this complaint, and this horrifies me.

“You’re at severe risk of being sent to prison. You’re also at severe risk of losing your licence for a very long time.”

“The fact you didn’t kill someone is miraculous. And the fact you didn’t care whether you killed someone is manifest in your driving.”

After Black eventually said he would try to find the money to get a solicitor, Sheriff Gallacher agreed to defer sentence until October 1.

But the sheriff warned him: “You can tell any lawyer that the sheriff says you’re at real risk of going to prison.

“Come back with a lawyer, or a script a lawyer has given you - or come back yourself.

“But if you come back yourself, Mr Black, I would bring your toothbrush.”