Singer Will Young banned from driving after crashing into car

Will Young has been banned from driving for six months after a man had to jump clear of his car which then crashed into a parked vehicle.

The Evergreen singer was driving at 40mph on the A68 towards Edinburgh when he “mistook bollards for a central reservation” and hit a car that was parked in a lay-by, Jedburgh Sheriff Court heard.

Young, who was returning from a friend’s farm, was driving in “fairly poor conditions” about a mile south of Earlston, Scotland, with it being dark and snowy at the time.

Graham Fraser, prosecuting, said the owner of the parked Nissan Qashai was walking across the lay-by and had to “jump clear to avoid being struck”.

Young, who didn’t realise his mistake until he had nearly hit the man, had to brake to avoid running him over and subsequently lost control of his Mercedes G-Class.

He “wrote off” the driver’s Nissan after smashing into it, while his own 4×4 was damaged in the collision on January 21.

The entertainer’s lawyer said he “clearly made a mistake” by thinking that a row of bollards, which marked entry to the lay-by, were a central reservation.

Young, who has released four number one albums, had been “extremely apologetic” for his “momentary loss of control”, the court heard.

The singer, 39, is said to have stayed with the man before calling the police.

He pleaded guilty at Selkirk Sheriff Court in March to driving without due care, as well as driving at excessive speed in relation to the weather conditions and for entering a lay-by.

Young was handed five penalty points and banned from driving for six months at his sentencing on Monday.

The artist already had 11 points on his licence as well as a drink-driving conviction from 1998.

A disqualification comes if 12 or more penalty points are built up within three years.

Sheriff Edment said: “I understand it’s been a momentary lapse in concentration.

“To your credit you pled guilty from the outset.

“You took the man into your car – dealt with in in a very honourable and responsible manner.”

Young, who won TV singing contest Pop Idol in 2002, was also fined £600.

(c) Sky News 2018: Singer Will Young banned from driving after crashing into car